Wellness

[gardenman]

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.

[teganslaw]

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.

[gardenman]

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.

[teganslaw]

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.

[gardenman]

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.

[gardenman]

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.

[gardenman]

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.

[Spurt]

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...

[teganslaw]

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.

[Spurt]

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...