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Glad that Tuna is Gone
Now that former Dallas coach Bill Parcells has admitted that he didn’t support the acquisition of Terrell Owens, Owens has gone on record to say he didn’t learn a thing from Parcells last season. There was a lot of mistrust there.
But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones better be concerned about Owens saying how much more relaxed the players are now with Parcells gone.
Yes, the Dallas players blamed Parcells for a vanilla defensive strategy down the stretch last season, but they are the ones who surrendered an average of 33 points a game over the final four December games, including embarrassing defeats to Philadelphia and Detroit.
The players all say they like new head coach Wade Phillips. But this is the NFL, and winning a popularity contest in the locker room is never a good thing for a head coach.
Favre, Packers should part ways
May 15, 2007 | 1:23PM | report this Even though Brett Favre refuses to speak to me anymore – apparently the backlash from some accurate reporting on his relationship with a former head coach and former offensive coordinator – I fully support his petulant reaction to the Packers’ inability to trade for Randy Moss or any veteran receiving threat.
OK, Green Bay GM Ted Thompson didn’t believe Moss, who is considered a dog by more than half of the league’s personnel men, was worth $3-5 million this season and the potential aggravation he could cause when he doesn’t get his own way. If you accept that assumption, then you believe that New England’s Bill Belichick is dumber than Thompson.
We say Belichick can afford to take a risk on Moss because he has won three Super Bowls and also has a quality quarterback in Tom Brady, who wanted Moss, just like Favre did.
But the bottom line in Green Bay is that the Packers really don’t trust Favre. In recent seasons, Favre has displayed a tendency to do his own thing on the field. He takes too may chances with the football. You can bet the Packers believed that with Moss around, he and Favre would do what they wanted to do on game days, and ignore what coach Mike McCarthy wanted on offense.
This is why Green Bay should simply cut its ties with Favre. He’s mad and frustrated with the situation. He still believes he has the arm for the long ball, but the Packers don’t really want to give him the weapons he desires. They are building for a future when Favre probably won’t be around. In Green Bay, the best players right now are on defense.
It doesn’t make any sense to have Favre, who remains one of the best quarterbacks in the NFC, and not give him any ammunition. Do you think the Bears would rather have Favre or Rex Grossman? How about the Lions? Do you think GM Matt Millen would swap Jon Kitna straight up for Favre?
Why have Favre on your roster if you’re not going to surround him with some quality receivers? I mean, he has what, one or two more seasons left? And there is no dominant team in the NFC right now. The league’s best teams are in the AFC.
Last season, Thompson took a bigger risk when he signed ex-Viking Koren Robinson, who was eventually suspended for an entire season. If he can take a chance on Robinson, who had a long history of alcohol abuse, why not take one with Moss?
Kiffin another Gruden?
There is no question that Raiders rookie head coach Lane Kiffin is attempting to have some control over personnel as well as his offensive game plans. To some Oakland insiders, his zest for personnel control reminds many of former coach Jon Gruden, who argued whenever he could with owner Al Davis over players.
With the firing of personnel assistant Michael Lombardi, Kiffin has no middleman in dealing with Davis. Right now, Kiffin is stretching himself pretty thin, attempting to do it all.
"It’s easy for him now, though, because he hasn’t messed up any third-down calls yet,” said one team source. “Wait until the season starts.”
There seems to be no question that Kiffin plans to start quarterback Josh McCown while allowing No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell to learn from the sidelines. With McCown, the Raiders obviously will have a lot of roll outs and bootlegs to suit his ability to avoid pressure and run. How long McCown will survive is another question.
Mike Williams, who was acquired with McCown in a draft-day trade with Detroit, has a hamstring tear and may not be ready for the start of training camp. The former first-round pick figures to be released if he can’t perform in preseason games. Right now, there are no indications that he will, either.
The Weight of Simon
The Colts will never admit that defensive tackle Corey Simon’s weight was the real reason they dumped him last season, refusing to pay him the remaining $1.9 million of his 2006 base salary of $2.5 million. The Colts have also lost their claim to recover an $8 million option bonus paid to Simon and will still have a hefty Simon number on their 2007 salary cap once the player is released.
GM Bill Polian has made a lot of great moves to help the Colts, but his $30 million contract to Simon ranks as one of his worst decisions.
Bengals & Thurman
The Cincinnati Bengals were the poster kids for NFL bad behavior last season and now there’s word that coach Marvin Lewis is considering giving middle linebacker Odell Thurman another chance should the player be reinstated in 30 days after serving a year’s suspension for failing to adhere to the league’s drug-alcohol policy.
Granted, Thurman was the team’s leading tackler two seasons ago and in America everyone seems to get a second chance. But you have to wonder if Lewis is making the right call in bringing him to training camp if he’s reinstated. What kind of influence will Thurman be on Ahmad Brooks, another of Cincy’s troubled linebackers?
One of the biggest issues with players like Thurman is that Lewis is thinking he’d rather have him on his roster than be playing against him.
Who Wants Ricky?
Ricky Williams hasn’t been reinstated yet by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, but you can bet that he won’t be playing for the Miami Dolphins this season. New head coach Cam Cameron doesn’t want Williams, who turns 30 next week, on his team. Williams, who reportedly has flunked another marijuana test, has missed two of the last three NFL seasons.
But some team will take him. In his last two NFL games, he rushed for 172 yards against the Titans and then 108 yards against New England on Jan. 1, 2006. The Dolphins won both games.
LINK
Now that former Dallas coach Bill Parcells has admitted that he didn’t support the acquisition of Terrell Owens, Owens has gone on record to say he didn’t learn a thing from Parcells last season. There was a lot of mistrust there.
But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones better be concerned about Owens saying how much more relaxed the players are now with Parcells gone.
Yes, the Dallas players blamed Parcells for a vanilla defensive strategy down the stretch last season, but they are the ones who surrendered an average of 33 points a game over the final four December games, including embarrassing defeats to Philadelphia and Detroit.
The players all say they like new head coach Wade Phillips. But this is the NFL, and winning a popularity contest in the locker room is never a good thing for a head coach.
Favre, Packers should part ways
May 15, 2007 | 1:23PM | report this Even though Brett Favre refuses to speak to me anymore – apparently the backlash from some accurate reporting on his relationship with a former head coach and former offensive coordinator – I fully support his petulant reaction to the Packers’ inability to trade for Randy Moss or any veteran receiving threat.
OK, Green Bay GM Ted Thompson didn’t believe Moss, who is considered a dog by more than half of the league’s personnel men, was worth $3-5 million this season and the potential aggravation he could cause when he doesn’t get his own way. If you accept that assumption, then you believe that New England’s Bill Belichick is dumber than Thompson.
We say Belichick can afford to take a risk on Moss because he has won three Super Bowls and also has a quality quarterback in Tom Brady, who wanted Moss, just like Favre did.
But the bottom line in Green Bay is that the Packers really don’t trust Favre. In recent seasons, Favre has displayed a tendency to do his own thing on the field. He takes too may chances with the football. You can bet the Packers believed that with Moss around, he and Favre would do what they wanted to do on game days, and ignore what coach Mike McCarthy wanted on offense.
This is why Green Bay should simply cut its ties with Favre. He’s mad and frustrated with the situation. He still believes he has the arm for the long ball, but the Packers don’t really want to give him the weapons he desires. They are building for a future when Favre probably won’t be around. In Green Bay, the best players right now are on defense.
It doesn’t make any sense to have Favre, who remains one of the best quarterbacks in the NFC, and not give him any ammunition. Do you think the Bears would rather have Favre or Rex Grossman? How about the Lions? Do you think GM Matt Millen would swap Jon Kitna straight up for Favre?
Why have Favre on your roster if you’re not going to surround him with some quality receivers? I mean, he has what, one or two more seasons left? And there is no dominant team in the NFC right now. The league’s best teams are in the AFC.
Last season, Thompson took a bigger risk when he signed ex-Viking Koren Robinson, who was eventually suspended for an entire season. If he can take a chance on Robinson, who had a long history of alcohol abuse, why not take one with Moss?
Kiffin another Gruden?
There is no question that Raiders rookie head coach Lane Kiffin is attempting to have some control over personnel as well as his offensive game plans. To some Oakland insiders, his zest for personnel control reminds many of former coach Jon Gruden, who argued whenever he could with owner Al Davis over players.
With the firing of personnel assistant Michael Lombardi, Kiffin has no middleman in dealing with Davis. Right now, Kiffin is stretching himself pretty thin, attempting to do it all.
"It’s easy for him now, though, because he hasn’t messed up any third-down calls yet,” said one team source. “Wait until the season starts.”
There seems to be no question that Kiffin plans to start quarterback Josh McCown while allowing No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell to learn from the sidelines. With McCown, the Raiders obviously will have a lot of roll outs and bootlegs to suit his ability to avoid pressure and run. How long McCown will survive is another question.
Mike Williams, who was acquired with McCown in a draft-day trade with Detroit, has a hamstring tear and may not be ready for the start of training camp. The former first-round pick figures to be released if he can’t perform in preseason games. Right now, there are no indications that he will, either.
The Weight of Simon
The Colts will never admit that defensive tackle Corey Simon’s weight was the real reason they dumped him last season, refusing to pay him the remaining $1.9 million of his 2006 base salary of $2.5 million. The Colts have also lost their claim to recover an $8 million option bonus paid to Simon and will still have a hefty Simon number on their 2007 salary cap once the player is released.
GM Bill Polian has made a lot of great moves to help the Colts, but his $30 million contract to Simon ranks as one of his worst decisions.
Bengals & Thurman
The Cincinnati Bengals were the poster kids for NFL bad behavior last season and now there’s word that coach Marvin Lewis is considering giving middle linebacker Odell Thurman another chance should the player be reinstated in 30 days after serving a year’s suspension for failing to adhere to the league’s drug-alcohol policy.
Granted, Thurman was the team’s leading tackler two seasons ago and in America everyone seems to get a second chance. But you have to wonder if Lewis is making the right call in bringing him to training camp if he’s reinstated. What kind of influence will Thurman be on Ahmad Brooks, another of Cincy’s troubled linebackers?
One of the biggest issues with players like Thurman is that Lewis is thinking he’d rather have him on his roster than be playing against him.
Who Wants Ricky?
Ricky Williams hasn’t been reinstated yet by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, but you can bet that he won’t be playing for the Miami Dolphins this season. New head coach Cam Cameron doesn’t want Williams, who turns 30 next week, on his team. Williams, who reportedly has flunked another marijuana test, has missed two of the last three NFL seasons.
But some team will take him. In his last two NFL games, he rushed for 172 yards against the Titans and then 108 yards against New England on Jan. 1, 2006. The Dolphins won both games.
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