NFL 2008-2009 Off-Season Post-Draft Catch-All

Minase wrote:

It's no Qwest Field, but I've never had a problem at Candlestick. Of course, I only go once a year and only buy seats at or near the 50... I could see how having crappy seats could really suck.

The limited & deteriorating road access? The paid parking out in the damn mud? The stadium that's falling apart?

Damn place is junk. Won't miss it. Of course I'll probably move to Texas before they build the new one. At least I'll be able to go watch the Jags once a year at Reliant.

As PFT points out, since there's no salary cap on the books for next year, there's no "June 1st cuts" to look forward to today.

Vic Ketchman caught the Jaguars doing some wildcat in OTA practices.

They drafted a mini-Tebow in Nebraska-Omaha's Zach Miller this year - a college option QB who looks to be a TE/H-Back in the NFL.

Of course, they did some of this with Matt Jones before the wildcat craze of last year, so at least they can say they aren't copycats... at least not too much...

Vince Young: "if them guys don’t want me to be in there, it’s time for me to make a career change for myself." I hear Arby's is hiring.

The limited & deteriorating road access? The paid parking out in the damn mud? The stadium that's falling apart?

Oh yeah, if you are foolish enough to drive to Candlestick instead of taking the express bus it would suck. I just hope they are smart enough to build a BART station right at the new stadium.

Gavin Newsom trying to shame Santa Clara into building something else so San Francisco can keep the Niners.

Rat Boy wrote:

Vince Young: "if them guys don’t want me to be in there, it’s time for me to make a career change for myself." I hear Arby's is hiring.

He'd just complain about not being manager and quit.

Rodney Harrison retires, joins NBC. Please, Peacock Network, don't make the same mistake as ESPN and just randomly stock up on ex-players for your broadcasts. Not everyone has the ability to speak in front of a television camera!

Tony Dungy not high on the Cutler-to-Chicago deal or on Cutler, period:

But does Cutler have the maturity to go along with the big arm?

"That remains to be seen. He is a very talented guy who can throw the ball very well. But quarterbacking is so much about leadership and so much about doing things under pressure. There is going to be a lot of pressure on him," Dungy said, according to the Tribune.

"We'll see about his maturity level. That's what I would question. And some of the things that happened leading to him leaving Denver ... that would concern me as a head coach," Dungy added, according to the report. "He can make all of the throws, but quarterbacking is much more than just making throws."

Vince Young off to...Canada? Oh don't worry, they're not saying "boo," they're saying "aboot."

Rodney Harrison retires, joins NBC. Please, Peacock Network, don't make the same mistake as ESPN and just randomly stock up on ex-players for your broadcasts. Not everyone has the ability to speak in front of a television camera!

Rodney is a pretty well spoken guy I think he will do well.

Sean Payton is shopping a movie around Hollywood called "The Xbox Kid." In summary:

Payton's tale "is about a boy from a poor family in New Orleans who starts controlling the outcome of NFL games through a refurbished Xbox given to him by his grandfather following a devastating hurricane."

Hmmm, Xboxs controlling NFL games; I've heard stupider explanations as to why the Raiders do so poorly.

Edit: Best comment I saw on the story:

He wrote the movie originally as "Tecmo Kid" but realized it was just 3 hours of Bo Jackson running in circles around people.

Pacman Jones might be coming back to Big D.

Rat Boy wrote:

Pacman Jones might be coming back to Big D.

Is that a sure fire sign that your off season acquisitions didn't go as well as planned?

garion333 wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Pacman Jones might be coming back to Big D.

Is that a sure fire sign that your off season acquisitions didn't go as well as planned?

It's at least a surefire sign that your owner was drunk off his ass at that concert.

Chad Ochocinco says he and Carson Palmer are like "Brokeback Mountain." I can't believe I just typed that sentence.

Rat Boy wrote:

Chad Ochocinco says he and Carson Palmer are like "Brokeback Mountain." I can't believe I just typed that sentence.

He said both Denzel Washington and Kobe Bryant told him to go back to having fun on the field and to stop worrying about the things he can’t control . . . .

Nice name drops.

The Steelers order a quarterpounder with bling.

Oh look the Chicago Bears, for the 2nd time in 4 years, are the first team in the league to sign all their draft picks. To be fair, they didn't have a 1st or 2nd rounder.

Also, Jets sign Sanchez (no terms mentioned yet)

*Legion* wrote:

Both Moore and Mudd have now made their retirement official. Although there is chatter that Moore may be using the pension as a convenient scapegoat: he was ready to bolt after Dungy left. And there's little indication that the Colts lifted a finger to try and keep them.

That's a bit rich, Legion. Polian and Irsay both were trying pretty hard to keep Moore and Mudd, but it sounds like both coaches took the 'better safe than sorry' approach and drew down their pension while they could. Seemed pretty clear that neither wanted to leave.

Anyway, doesn't matter. Storm in a teacup. They should be back soon.

Haakon7 wrote:

That's a bit rich, Legion.

You can't really call me on commenting on how the situation looked when your team's own QB was "expressing frustration over the inhouse communication around the retirements/potential returns of offensive assistants Tom Moore and Howard Mudd" in the very link you just provided.

I said "there's little indication that the Colts lifted a finger to try and keep them", and that's exactly what Manning is complaining about: "It's not a situation that I’m just thrilled about. I think the communication has been pretty poor in my opinion."

That said, I am not at all buying the "back as consultants = essentially the same job" spin. The coach himself is saying he's not sure what their roles will be. I'm seeing Irsay waving his arms in support, and Jim Caldwell seeming awfully disinterested in them (and, well, the rest of the old regime). And as Irsay says in your link, it's ultimately Caldwell's call. We'll see what Caldwell has them doing once they're back. I'm not yet convinced he's very interested in them beyond placating his quarterback.

*Legion* wrote:

You can't really call me on commenting on how the situation looked when your team's own QB was "expressing frustration over the inhouse communication around the retirements/potential returns of offensive assistants Tom Moore and Howard Mudd" in the very link you just provided.

I said "there's little indication that the Colts lifted a finger to try and keep them", and that's exactly what Manning is complaining about: "It's not a situation that I’m just thrilled about. I think the communication has been pretty poor in my opinion."

I don't know if you heard the interview in which Peyton made those comments, but he wasn't getting worked up in any way. It sounded to me more like a statement of fact. Yeah, Polian and Irsay probably should have been doing a better job at keeping him (as basically a member of the coaching staff) involved, and there may be an element of keeping him comfortable, but I don't think this is indicative of the sort of drama you're suggesting.

I have to say, there's also a big difference between communication with the players and the effort to try and keep M&M on the staff. As he isn't around head office in the same way he would be during the regular season and Polian/Caldwell hasn't done enough to keep him up to date, Peyton rightly felt out of the loop. That doesn't mean that Polian wasn't working hard behind the scenes to keep them (which is what the buzz has been.)

*Legion* wrote:

We'll see what Caldwell has them doing once they're back. I'm not yet convinced he's very interested in them beyond placating his quarterback.

Oehser's got a piece about Caldwell up today, which seems to suggest that there won't be much change in the structure on the sideline.
I would tend to agree with the article. He's worked with these guys for years, recognizes that they're in this together, and I don't feel like he's got the urge or the incentive to mix things up too much. Sounds to me like Caldwell has a good sense of what the organizations' goals are and if I were him, I'd be hesitant to mess too much with such a successful set-up.

Here, I'd thought *Legion* would enjoy this on some level or another:

Vick cut by the Falcons. No takers so far.

Rat Boy wrote:

No takers so far.

Don't worry. He'll be a big draw for the new UFL.

Trent Green retires.

Rat Boy wrote:

Trent Green retires.

At least he has the good sense to not pretend otherwise, like Shaun Alexander.

Troy Aikman finally graduates from UCLA. You think they could've asked him to be the commencement speaker instead of first choice actor James Franco (also graduating this year) or their ultimate pick, the guitarist from Linkin Park? Man, after Kareem Abdul Jabbar did it two years ago, commencement for the Bruins has gone down hill.

Can he graduate from Joe Buck next?

So, the big story in football circles this week is how ESPN claimed that the Vikings gave Brett Favre a deadline of the end of this week to give them his decision as to whether he was coming back or not.

Vikings coach Brad Childress came out and said that the report was "absolutely not" true. Childress's friend Pat Kirwan, who co-hosts a show on SIRIUS NFL Radio (and, incidentally, is one of the best football writers/voices out there), spoke a little more bluntly than Childress himself, saying ESPN's report was "completely made up".

Indeed, come "deadline Friday", ESPN themselves reported that the Vikings are sending staffers out to monitor Favre's rehab "in the next few days". No mention of the end of week deadline anywhere, except the old story.

Didja happen to catch whose name was on the completely false "deadline" story?

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