CrazyCowboy
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Around the league
http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9364067/2
http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9364067/2
- Enough already. Brett Favre needs to make up his mind. Play or retire? It's time to let the Packers know. Favre has kept the team waiting for the past couple of months, but that isn't fair to the Packers. New coach Mike McCarthy needs to know if he'll be playing Favre or second-year player Aaron Rodgers.
Favre is being selfish by not telling the team his intentions. He has to know by now. What's he waiting for? An ESPN special on his announcement? Didn't they do a 30-minute show on his eating a hamburger last week?
- It's mind-boggling that former Oakland Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson didn't get more play on the open market. Woodson is still a quality cover player who can help a lot of teams. Yet he missed out on the big-money deals being thrown around early in free-agency and it now appears he has narrowed his choices to Tampa Bay and Green Bay.
If he signs with Tampa Bay, the plan is to play him at free safety. He played some at safety last year and impressed some coaches around the league. If the Bucs sign him, it will give them a heck of a coverage group when he joins corners Brian Kelly and Ronde Barber.
In Green Bay, Woodson would start opposite Al Harris and relegate Ahmad Carroll to nickel back. Woodson is only 29 and he still has a lot of good football left in him. If Tampa Bay can get him to reunite with Jon Gruden, it would be a heck of a move for Gruden and Bruce Allen.
- :starspin While we're praising Allen and Gruden for getting in the Woodson derby, we have to wonder about the offer sheet they gave to Dallas tackle Torrin Tucker, an offer the Cowboys won't match. The deal is for two years, although the numbers have not been disclosed.
The Cowboys tendered Tucker at $712,000, giving them the right of first refusal on any deal, but the word is the Bucs deal is significantly more than that. Why? Tucker has started 24 games, but he has struggled much of the time. The word from inside the Cowboys building is that he lacks a great worth ethic and he isn't one to spend a lot of time in the weight room. That leads to his getting overweight and not being nearly as strong as he should be.
Yes, we know the Bucs are desperate for line help, but this is a real reach. They did re-sign Kenyatta Walker, although there are those scouts who wonder if that is really a good thing.
- When the Rams released Isaac Bruce last month before re-signing him, the Lions made a strong push to sign him. New Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz, the former Rams coach, thought he had a good chance to bring Bruce to Detroit. The Lions even offered a deal for $1 million more than what the Rams offered, according to a source. In the end, Bruce opted to stay in St. Louis, where he will close out his career. He is the last Rams player to be with the team when it was in Los Angeles.
New Rams coach Scott Linehan is a big believer in playing three wide receivers, which should put Bruce, Torry Holt and Kevin Curtis on the field a lot. That will allow running back Steven Jackson a lot of room to run. The Rams are expecting a huge year from him.
As for the Lions and their interest in Bruce: What the heck are they thinking? They use first-round picks in the draft in three successive years on receivers and yet are willing to pay an aging receiver big money? What's next? With their first pick in the 2006 draft, the Lions take Chad Jackson, receiver, Florida. Don't laugh. You never know with this group.
- Bengals middle linebacker Odell Thurman had a huge year as a rookie last season. But the one thing the coaches said hurt him was that he didn't have big bodies in front of him to keep linemen off him. That has changed. The Bengals signed Sam Adams to a three-year deal, and Adams will provide plenty of bulk at 340 pounds. That should help Thurman be an even better player in 2006. The kid has Pro Bowl ability, and now we might see him on his way to Hawaii with the Adams signing.
- So cornerback Nick Harper is unhappy with his contract in Indianapolis? Harper is set to make $1 million this year, but he is staying away from the team's offseason workout program because he's not happy with the deal. Does Harper realize that he isn't exactly a shut-down corner? At 31, he should be happy making $1 million.
Not only that, his incident at home with his wife -- in which he was allegedly stabbed in the knee the night before the Colts' playoff game against the Steelers -- might have prevented the team from making the Super Bowl. He is the one who picked up the Jerome Bettis fumble late and appeared on his way to a touchdown before he was tackled by Ben Roethlisberger. The Colts missed a potential game-tying field goal and the Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl. Is it a stretch to say he cost them that chance? Probably. But we'll never know what a healthier Harper could have done.
He should be happy with his $1 million. He's a decent player, nothing more. Plus the Colts have young corners in Marlin Jackson and Kelvin Hayden ready to step in and play.
- It looks like Titans tackle Brad Hopkins is going to retire rather than sign a contract with another team and move his family. The Titans let him go for cap reasons, and they plan to move Michael Roos, who started at right tackle as a rookie, to the left side. To replace Roos, the Titans will have youngsters David Stewart and Daniel Loper compete for the spot, with veteran Jacob Bell in the mix.
Going with two young tackles is a risky move. Maybe Steve McNair is ready to move on after all. The Titans haven't let McNair work out at the team's facility until he restructures his contract. They fear if he gets hurt, they will be on the hook for his $9 million salary.
So much for loyalty in this league. McNair has played hurt for much of his career, has restructured his deal several times to help out with the cap, and now the Titans are turning on him. That's a bad public relations move. McNair is revered in Tennessee. Tennessee either needs to let him go or let him work out.
- The latest word on LaVar Arrington is that the Jaguars are the team that has made him the best offer. Indications are the Jaguars have offered him a deal with $11 million in guaranteed money in the first two years, while Arrington is seeking $14 million. Without any deals coming close to that, he might be forced to take what the Jaguars are offering.
Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio had a good visit with Arrington a few weeks back and was not worried about his propensity for freelancing in the Commanders defense. Del Rio said he didn't see that on tape last year. The Jaguars have a hole at the strong-side linebacker spot, so Arrington makes sense. There is some concern in the organization about his "loose" knee, but if the price is right, the Jaguars would be willing to take him on.
If they do get Arrington, the Jaguars could focus on offense in the draft. They are interested in tight ends Leonard Pope of Georgia and Marcedes Lewis of UCLA. Jaguars tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts spent a lot of time with Lewis at his Pro Day workout last month, while new offensive assistant Mike Tice has studied Pope in great detail. Indications are the Jaguars are high on both players.
- The NFL is doing the wrong thing in banishing local television crews from filming games on the sidelines. That decision, made last week at the owners meetings in Orlando, is one that will be challenged. The NFL wants to better control game footage since digital media is something that can eventually lead to more revenue for teams. Streaming video on cell phones and the Internet can be a moneymaker.
Controlling the news is a major issue. A lot of stations around the league have highlight shows Sunday night, and they like to get their own video, rather than use the network feed. Plus, they might want some feature video for stuff down the road. The NFL is treading on thin ice with this one. It might be forced to change this rule.
- There is a chance the 2006 season could be the last for Seattle coach Mike Holmgren. He is entering the final year of his contract and has said he might walk away.
"I'm going to be 58 years old," Holmgren said last week at the owners meetings. "There are a lot of things I haven't been able to do that I might want to try and do, but who knows?"
Holmgren insists the retirement talk isn't leverage. His wife has had some health issues in the past, which has to impact his thinking. If that's the reason he walks away, props to him. It's family over football. Too bad more coaches don't think that way.
- If you're seeking a player who is moving up the draft boards, take a look at Florida State receiver Willie Reid. He ran a 4.34 at the combine and that speed, coupled with his ability to return kicks, has brought on some interest.
Reid returned seven punts for 180 yards in the Seminoles' Orange Bowl loss to Penn State, earning game MVP honors. He returned one punt 87 yards for a touchdown. He also had 210 all-purpose yards in the ACC title game upset of Virginia Tech.
The knock on Reid is that he is small at 5-feet-10 and 188 pounds, but with that speed, he's worth a look. He also caught 50 passes for 634 yards last year.
