So The Superbowl is Over (Unofficial 2007 NFL Draft/Free Agency Thread)

[st.cronin]

I think only the Patriots and Colts have starters that there are zero question marks about, but I wasn't saying Carr would step into the job at every other team. I said I would be happy to have him on the roster if I were a fan.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Sounds like what everyone said about D.Branch and Ty Law who was better and probably is better than Samuel but old.

Branch was already under contract and he was holding out. Law was hurt, coming off his lis franc injury where he missed almost the entire season prior, and getting older. The franchise number at that time (with a low salary cap compared to how its ballooned the last 2 seasons) made the franchise not a good idea for Law. Remember, if you franchise him and he signs, it is guaranteed money.

Samuel is young, there is a ton of cap room to accomodate the franchise salary of $7+, and he just came of an incredible season and is healthy. To me this is a no brainer franchise situation (if a long term deal cannot be reached). Then Samuel either signs the tender and plays or he holds out and gets traded. Either way, the Pats get something out of the deal.

[st.cronin]

Ty Law has never been better than Samuel.

[Arles]

It looks like the rumored deal of Moss to Green Bay for Bubba Franks and 3rd is dead in the water. GB GM Ted Thompson isn't sure Moss is the answer at WR.

Here's a new one I heard today:

GB sends KGB to Denver for Tatum Bell.

The Packers are also interested in Nate Clements, Arrington and Adalius Thomas (esp if the KGB deal goes through).

[stevew]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Ty Law has never been better than Samuel.

That's funny.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Bengals just franchised DE Justin Smith. His franchise number is $8,644,000.


In Pats news, WR Coach Brian Daboll, 31, is going to NY to join Mangini for an unspecified job (probably QB coach).

[JPhillips]

The decision on Smith is a classic case of overpaying because you can't replace the guy. He'll never be a double digit sacker, but he makes a lot of tackles and plays hard every down. He's apparently very good at maintaining his assignment which is a big deal on a defense full of freelancers. He's also a good guy with no hint of outside problems.

I hope they can get a long term deal done so the cap hit is lower, but even with his limitations Smith is the best player the Bengals could get for their RE.

[albionmoonlight]

If Justin Smith is worth the franchise tag, then I wonder what that does to Charles Grant's value? I really wonder if the Saints are going to be able/willing to afford to keep him.

edit--In a weird way, teams overpaying to keep their own free agents off the market may have a snowball effect. If teams know that replacment players will not be out there, then they will be more likely to pay to keep their own players, which means that they will be even less free agents on the market, which makes it even more important to pay to keep the players that you have . . .

[stevew]

I'm suprised they didnt tag Steinbach instead.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Vinatieri for Prez

Bengals just franchised DE Justin Smith. His franchise number is $8,644,000.

Huh. That's interesting. The Lions are going to have to make a decision regarding Cory Redding. They switched him to defensive tackle mid-way through the season due to injuries and he really played well. The Lions will keep him, most like franchise him, but it will be interesting to see if he's franchised as DE (which has was drafted as and played throughout his career until last year) or DT. The difference in money is significant.

I assume he'll be franchised as DE, though I have no idea how that works or what the rules governing it are.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

If Justin Smith is worth the franchise tag, then I wonder what that does to Charles Grant's value? I really wonder if the Saints are going to be able/willing to afford to keep him.

edit--In a weird way, teams overpaying to keep their own free agents off the market may have a snowball effect. If teams know that replacment players will not be out there, then they will be more likely to pay to keep their own players, which means that they will be even less free agents on the market, which makes it even more important to pay to keep the players that you have . . .

There's so much cap room out there, I think nearly every team will end up franchising a player (pretty confident the Niners won't).

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I assume he'll be franchised as DE, though I have no idea how that works or what the rules governing it are.

My story about a guy getting paid to watch football:

I worked for a year for Covington & Burling, the main outside legal counsel for the NFL. The Kansas City Chiefs placed the tag (or its precursor) on the defensive lineman who lined up on the end of their line (totally don't know the guy's name).

The team argued that he was actually a defensive tackle because Derrick Thomas lined up to the outside of this guy and rushed on every play--and this guy was really playing defensive tackle in that scheme.

The player argued that he was a defensive end.

So this guy at my firm got paid to watch every single defensive play that the Chiefs ran the previous season in order to determine what percentage of plays the guy played like a defensive tackle, and what percentage of plays the played like a defensive end.

And I totally forget how it came out. But the general point is that I think that sometimes you just get an arbitrator to determine what position someone plays.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

My story about a guy getting paid to watch football:

I worked for a year for Covington & Burling, the main outside legal counsel for the NFL. The Kansas City Chiefs placed the tag (or its precursor) on the defensive lineman who lined up on the end of their line (totally don't know the guy's name).

The team argued that he was actually a defensive tackle because Derrick Thomas lined up to the outside of this guy and rushed on every play--and this guy was really playing defensive tackle in that scheme.

The player argued that he was a defensive end.

So this guy at my firm got paid to watch every single defensive play that the Chiefs ran the previous season in order to determine what percentage of plays the guy played like a defensive tackle, and what percentage of plays the played like a defensive end.

And I totally forget how it came out. But the general point is that I think that sometimes you just get an arbitrator to determine what position someone plays.

Interesting. Good to know!

I actually seriously considered working at Covington and Burling because they were outside counsel for the NFL. After doing a bit of digging, however, I decided that it really didn't seem like a place I wanted to work at. Very stuffy by all accounts.

Still, getting paid to watch every defensive play the Chiefs ran in a year is about 10,000x's more exciting than what I'm doing now.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

So this guy at my firm got paid to watch every single defensive play that the Chiefs ran the previous season in order to determine what percentage of plays the guy played like a defensive tackle, and what percentage of plays the played like a defensive end.

A full-time job like this would be awesome. A couple weeks ago they showed how the instant replays are handled in the NHL, and it was about three guys sitting in a room watching plays over and over again, and then discussing what the outcome should be. I know I guess it was common sense that this is what is involved with reviewing plays, but it still seemed like an awesome job!

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Interesting. Good to know!

I actually seriously considered working at Covington and Burling because they were outside counsel for the NFL. After doing a bit of digging, however, I decided that it really didn't seem like a place I wanted to work at. Very stuffy by all accounts.

Still, getting paid to watch every defensive play the Chiefs ran in a year is about 10,000x's more exciting than what I'm doing now.

I really liked Covington. I am not a big-city/big-firm guy it turns out, but they were very, very professional. I would recommend them to anyone who knows that they could be happy at a big firm.

That said, the NFL aspect to it is very overrated. That work is, as you would expect, very hard to get. And the vast majority of it has very little to do with football. Helping the Denver Broncos with financing and land use issues with their new stadium isn't really that much different (from the lawyer's perspective) than doing a big real estate deal for any large corporate client.

The "watching Derrick Thomas play" assignment was notable in part because it was so rare.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I really liked Covington. I am not a big-city/big-firm guy it turns out, but they were very, very professional. I would recommend them to anyone who knows that they could be happy at a big firm.

That said, the NFL aspect to it is very overrated. That work is, as you would expect, very hard to get. And the vast majority of it has very little to do with football. Helping the Denver Broncos with financing and land use issues with their new stadium isn't really that much different (from the lawyer's perspective) than doing a big real estate deal for any large corporate client.

The "watching Derrick Thomas play" assignment was notable in part because it was so rare.

Yeah. I could imagine that. Most of the NFL work would likely be quite dull. I would also imagine that the NFL could be a difficult client because, well, they're the NFL. At least that's the approach they seem to take in many other avenues of their business.

That's good to know about Covington. My big DC firm days are well behind me at this point, though the recent pay raises are really, really tempting.

[miami_fan]

The Bears have place the franchise tag on Lance Briggs. $7.206 million

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

The Bears have place the franchise tag on Lance Briggs. $7.206 million

First time ever for Chicago.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

As I believed, Pats just franchised Samuel.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Vinatieri for Prez

As I believed, Pats just franchised Samuel.

$7.79 million - high enough that I didn't think it was a done deal, so that's good news.

[jeff061]

They have plenty of cap space this year, it only make sense. And Samuel, at least on the face of it, seems to be taking it in stride. Which I was not sure would happen.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Freeney also tagged at $8,644,000 by Colts.

[albionmoonlight]

Saints tagged Charles Grant.

[miami_fan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2771925

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana State police arrested Colts running back Dominic Rhodes on suspicion of driving under the influence Tuesday morning, police said.


Rhodes was driving 81 mph in a 55 mph on northbound Interstate 65 in Indianapolis about 3 a.m., said Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Dave Bursten.

"It was a normal run of the mill drunk driving arrest," Bursten said.

Colts officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Lt. Doug Scheffel told RTV6 that Rhodes was taken to the adult processing center downtown early Tuesday morning.

Rhodes, who is currently a free agent, came off the bench to rush for 113 yards and a touchdown in the Colts' 29-17 victory over the Bears in Super Bowl XLI. It was Rhodes' first 100-yard game since 2001 and only the sixth of his career.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[albionmoonlight]

Potential interesting situation with Donte Stallworth and the Eagles (and some as yet unidentified team(s)) at the very beginning of Free Agency.

The Saints traded Stallworth to the Eagles for a 4th rounder. That pick, however, converts to a 3rd rounder if the Eagles re-sign Stallworth to a new deal before the start of Free Agency.

The Eagles and Stallworth have both talked about how they would like to do a longer term deal, so the popular thinking is that the Eagles already have a contract in principle with him and the parties are just waiting until midnight on the start of Free Agency for him to sign it. That would keep the Eagles from having to convert the 4th to a 3rd.

And that, probably, will happen.

The Eagles, are, however, taking a little bit of a risk here. If any team really wants Stallworth, then they are going to call his agent at 12:00.01 on the morning of Free Agency and say something to the effect of "whatever contract you have in principle with the Eagles, we will add 10% to it." I could totally see a Dan Snyder or a Jerry Jones pulling this move on a division rival.

Anyway, it may be much ado about nothing, but thanks to the strange nature of the trade between the Saints and Eagles, a pretty good (not great, but pretty good) wide receiver is going to hit the free agent market for a very brief time this season.

In a year where cap money is flowing like wine down a prom date and no great players are hitting the market, the whole thing might blow up in the Eagles' face.

[Logan]

I know the Niners are supposedly very interested in Stallworth, and the interest was pretty mutual. I say "was" because Stallworth was quoted as saying something along the lines of "Turner is still there as OC, I like that offense." With Norv gone, I think we're out of the running.

This offseason is going to be interesting. If you're a fan of pretty much any team in the NFL (excluding the few teams who have a low level of cap space), you see your team's cap room and think "Wow, we can really do some damage in FA this year." But then you look around and see that damn near every team has a ton of money available this year, which limits what your team can do.

As a result of all the cap room, we're beginning to see almost every team use their franchise tag on someone, with eventual long term deals most likely to be worked out for many players.

Now you have a ton of cap room, across a ton of teams, with probably 25% of the impact players available. Which then results in teams bidding against each other for the second-tier players. Something tells me that it won't take very long before some teams get in a lot of contract trouble with guys they signed this offseason.

[flere-imsaho]

It's amazing how good a receiver can look when Aaron Brooks isn't throwing passes to him. Though I can't explain how Joe Horn managed to look good during the Aaron Brooks era....

[miami_fan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2771981

The Dallas Cowboys, fresh off their hiring of head coach Wade Phillips as Bill Parcells' replacement, resolved their top free agent priority by reaching agreement on a six-year deal with center Andre Gurode.

Terms on the contract were not immediately available, but it is safe to assume Gurode has become one of the highest-paid centers in the league. The start of free agency is only two weeks away and Gurode and New York Giants center Shaun O'Hara were going to be a hottest free agents at their position. To get Gurode off the market, the Cowboys had to strike the right kind of deal and did just that.

Gurode's agent, Kennard McGuire, was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

Negotiations with the 6-foot-4, 314-pound Gurode began last week and turned hot and heavy during the weekend. The Cowboys wanted to maintain continuity along their offensive line but faced the possibility of losing Gurode at center and Marc Colombo at right tackle. Gurode's backup, Al Johnson, is also a free agent.

The Cowboys drafted Gurode in the second round in 2002 and he's been starting since his rookie season.

Matt Birk of the Vikings is the currently the league's highest-paid center at $4.3 million per year, but the 2007 market should take the price of top centers above $4.5 million and possibly to $5 million annually.

Senior writer John Clayton covers the NFL for ESPN.com.

[Raider_Nation]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

Moss is avaliable for a 3rd round pick?

LMFAO we'd be lucky to get a third rounder after the way that bum played last season.
He also dissed our new coach and didn't return his calls.
We should be giving the packers a 3rd rounder to get rid of randy 'You'll never be in the hall of fame/not good enough to clean Jerry rices boots' Moss.....

[stevew]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2771981

I thought Bentley was making an average of 6 million annually? Either it's shoddy reporting(not suprising) or they figure his salary a different way.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by stevew

I thought Bentley was making an average of 6 million annually? Either it's shoddy reporting(not suprising) or they figure his salary a different way.

I am assuming they are looking at the 2007 salary and not the average of the contract. You are right about Bentley's average salary.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Potential interesting situation with Donte Stallworth and the Eagles (and some as yet unidentified team(s)) at the very beginning of Free Agency.

The Saints traded Stallworth to the Eagles for a 4th rounder. That pick, however, converts to a 3rd rounder if the Eagles re-sign Stallworth to a new deal before the start of Free Agency.

The Eagles and Stallworth have both talked about how they would like to do a longer term deal, so the popular thinking is that the Eagles already have a contract in principle with him and the parties are just waiting until midnight on the start of Free Agency for him to sign it. That would keep the Eagles from having to convert the 4th to a 3rd.

And that, probably, will happen.

The Eagles, are, however, taking a little bit of a risk here. If any team really wants Stallworth, then they are going to call his agent at 12:00.01 on the morning of Free Agency and say something to the effect of "whatever contract you have in principle with the Eagles, we will add 10% to it." I could totally see a Dan Snyder or a Jerry Jones pulling this move on a division rival.

Anyway, it may be much ado about nothing, but thanks to the strange nature of the trade between the Saints and Eagles, a pretty good (not great, but pretty good) wide receiver is going to hit the free agent market for a very brief time this season.

In a year where cap money is flowing like wine down a prom date and no great players are hitting the market, the whole thing might blow up in the Eagles' face.

First, I don't think for a second that every team abides by the no-contact rule until March 1. My guess is Stallworth's agent already has an idea of what's out there. Second, Stallworth's no dummy. I doubt he would have signed anything with the Eagles until after March 1 anyways, regardless of the draft arrangement with New Orleans. He wants to get paid and to not wait (in an offseason devoid of FA WR talent) until after March 1 is stupidity on his part. I have no doubt they have negotiated to see where they stand, but there is no way Stallworth is not testing the market regardless of the New Orleans situation.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by Raider_Nation

LMFAO we'd be lucky to get a third rounder after the way that bum played last season.
He also dissed our new coach and didn't return his calls.
We should be giving the packers a 3rd rounder to get rid of randy 'You'll never be in the hall of fame/not good enough to clean Jerry rices boots' Moss.....

Thanks for giving us a 1st and a good LB for him

[Ksyrup]

I'm not sure how I feel about this from Denver's perspective. Peterson is an injury risk and we have a lot of pressing needs.


There have been rumors Denver might send Jake Plummer, Tatum Bell and their first-round pick to Houston for the Texans No. 8 pick in the draft, in the hopes of drafting Adrian Peterson.
-- Rocky Mountain News

[gottimd]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Saints tagged Charles Grant.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I'm not sure how I feel about this from Denver's perspective. Peterson is an injury risk and we have a lot of pressing needs.


There have been rumors Denver might send Jake Plummer, Tatum Bell and their first-round pick to Houston for the Texans No. 8 pick in the draft, in the hopes of drafting Adrian Peterson.
-- Rocky Mountain News

Wouldn't this be pretty agaisnt the grain for Denver?

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by wade moore

Wouldn't this be pretty agaisnt the grain for Denver?

Hasn't Denver lost its OC, Running Backs coach, and offensive line coach over the past two years? If so, maybe Shanahan's banking on needing a stud RB to help out his loss in the running game.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Almost makes me feel bad for Cleveland...almost...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

Browns center LeCharles Bentley will likely undergo more surgery on a serious knee injury that cost him last season, is jeopardizing another and could end his NFL career.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by wade moore

Wouldn't this be pretty agaisnt the grain for Denver?

Yes and no. Although much has been made of the draft "steals" Shanahan has gotten with RBs (Terrell Davis obviously comes to mind, and Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, etc.), he's also not been afraid to take a RB high when he doesn't think he's got a good enough RB on the team. Clinton Portis was a relatively high draft choice.

[Butter]

Makes you wonder why Denver goes through RB's like crazy.

[Ksyrup]

Because they're expendable. I think all they want is production, and if they can get it on the cheap, great. If not, they spend a little more cash to get a high draft choice and use him until his price tag exceeds his value. If they pick Peterson and he's great, I could see him becoming Portis Ver. 2 in a few years. It would have been interesting to see what Denver would have done with Davis had injuries not derailed his career. Maybe they would have caved and paid him because of the SBs and how great he was. Apparently Denver didn't think all that much of Portis, despite his production.

[Butter]

RB's are not expendable, unless they suck. Shanahan's ego just leads him to think he'll rack up rushing yards despite the parade of no-names in the backfield, I think. Maybe he's realizing his error at this point. I mean, it's not as if Elway single-handedly won the Super Bowls for him. It was the strength of the running game that got them over the top.

[Ksyrup]

The running game was pretty strong last year, too. I think maybe he wants less of a committee approach and more one guy to handle the load, though. In the years when Davis and Portis weren't the go-to guys, we had one "no name" guy step up and carry the load. That's about the only difference between last year and previous years. He just hasn't found the draft steal who can handle the entire load. But I agree with his general premise - no need to overpay for a RB because good ones are out there.

[Logan]

Aren't Plummer and Bell both on the verge of being cut?

[Ksyrup]

Possibly, but since Kubiak is looking to recreate Denver in Houston, I guess he's willing to pay to get the first crack at them. Maybe Shanahan will throw in a mid-range mountain top to make the deal even more palatable to Kubiak. That way he'll have something Denver to look at when he's not staring out on the field.

[Logan]

Fair point...just saying, I don't think this deal gets anywhere near done with what's been posted.

[duckman]

Wonderful! An offensive coordinator with 2 years of coaching experience!

IRVING, Texas -- Jason Garrett finally has a title with the Dallas Cowboys nearly a month after being hired to the coaching staff. And it's not a surprise.

Garrett was named the offensive coordinator Tuesday for new coach Wade Phillips, who also gave an extension to assistant head coach Tony Sparano through 2009.

The extension was first reported by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hired the 40-year-old Garrett to the coaching staff Jan. 25 after interviewing him for the head coaching vacancy. It had been expected since then that Garrett would be the offensive coordinator, even though his only coaching experience was the last two seasons as quarterbacks coach in Miami.

"We believe that Jason is one of the bright young offensive minds in the NFL," Phillips said. "He has extensive experience in working with some outstanding offensive coaches through his years of professional football, and he is well prepared for this position."

Garrett was the backup to Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman for two Super Bowl titles in Dallas from 1993-99. He later played four seasons with the New York Giants before splitting 2004 between Tampa Bay and Miami. He played in 40 regular season games, and his only nine starts came with the Cowboys.

Sparano, the offensive line coach, shared in play-calling duties for coach Bill Parcells' staff last season. Sparano will continue to coach the offensive line.

"Tony's past performance with the organization and the respect that he has from our players made this an easy decision," Phillips said. "His contract commitment will provide stability for our staff for a long time, and that was also an important factor in this decision."

The Cowboys scored 425 points (26.6 per game) and averaged 361 total yards per game last season. It was their most productive offense since 1995, when they won the last of their five Super Bowl titles.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Tag deadline is tomorrow and Detroit's Cory Redding got the latest one (at the lesser DT salary).

Ravens LB Adalius Thomas was not franchised yet. Interesting.

Also, there was an interesting tidbit from Adam Schefter on how Atlanta's Patrick Kearney avoided the tag: "Kerney still has two years remaining on his contract, which he will void Feb. 23, one day after the deadline that teams can use their franchise tags. No player under contract can be tagged, meaning Kerney has found a loophole into free agency and will not be tagged the way Indianapolis' Dwight Freeney and Cincinnati's Justin Smith were. Some reports have said the Falcons were considering franchising Kerney, but that is not the case." Very creative.

[RedKingGold]

Smith's agent says talks with Bears have broken downESPN.com news services

Barring what Lovie Smith's agent calls an "unforseen breakthrough," the Chicago Bears coach expects to return for the 2007 season without a new contract.

Frank Bauer, Smith's agent, told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that talks between the team and coach were at a "stalemate."

"We're not close, we're not encouraged and based on where talks have gone recently, Lovie will be a free agent after next season," Bauer said on Wednesday night.

Smith has one year remaining on his original contract. He was the league's lowest-paid coach at $1.35 million in 2006 and will remain No. 32 on the paylist at $1.45 million in '07.

Smith suspended contract talks shortly before the playoffs when he led the Bears to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1985 after a 13-3 regular season. Negotiations picked up shortly after the Bears lost to the Colts in the championship game, but Bauer said there were significant gaps on the contract terms between management and the coach.

"It would take an unforseen breakthrough for this to get done," Bauer said. "And we are being more than reasonable in this market."

Coaches that have taken their teams to the Super Bowl, even in a losing effort, are making at least $5 million per year, such as Carolina's John Fox.

The Ravens just signed Brian Billick to a four-year extension. The deal, with one year left on his current contract, is valued at $28.5 million over the next five years, a league source said.

Chris Mortensen is an NFL analyst for ESPN.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2774459

I *almost* feel bad for Bear's fans.

[Ksyrup]

It would be funny if they brought back Ron Rivera as HC next season. Apparently, despite his recent issues, he remains on good terms with the team president, which pretty much confirms his leaving was a result of Lovie Smith wanting him gone.