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The Duke
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Cowboys QB Tony Romo is feeling good about the ongoing talks with the Cowboys about a contract extension. His current deal runs through 2007. The two sides are in the preliminary stages, but Romo said he would like to get something done before the start of the season. What the Cowboys must decide now is how much Romo is worth. Despite his Pro Bowl season in 2006, he has only 11 starts. While the Houston Texans set the benchmark with their six-year, $48 million deal for Matt Schaub, who has only two career starts, Romo is still considered a developing player.
If the Vikings trade outspoken cornerback Antoine Winfield, the Patriots, who have two first-round draft picks next spring, would seem a logical destination. New England cornerback Asante Samuel, by the way, is holding out for more guaranteed money.
One player who is potentially available that could interest the Titans is Alex Brown of the Chicago Bears. Brown is attempting to force a trade from the Bears, though Chicago thus far has been somewhat reluctant to accommodate him.
“Then there's Merriman,” one agent said of the Chargers linebacker who led the NFL in sacks last season. “He's the best defensive player in the league. . . . I'd just assume he's unsignable at this point.” It is likely that one of the players will have the franchise tag put on him in 2010, and the cheapest to franchise likely will be Merriman. Linebackers had the sixth-highest franchise number this year.
Ravens LB Ray Lewis said he is not close to calling it quits. "It's incredible. Some people say you go reverse once you hit the 30 mark, but I think I'm going the other way," said Lewis, 32, whose Ravens begin their final minicamp of the offseason today. "So where I am right now, it's scary because now I can really see that my best football is ahead of me, and so that's what's more exciting than anything, for me." Lewis probably can expect to play longer than Singletary, Lambert and Butkus because athletes train better now. But, in the same respect, Lewis has taken hits from bigger, stronger blockers than linebackers did in previous eras. Recently, time and those hits have taken their toll on Lewis. He hasn't played a full season since 2003, and he has missed 24 games over the past five seasons because of shoulder and hamstring injuries. But the two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year contends he is healthier than he was over the past couple of seasons. "I don't have any nicks, no real bruises," he said. "I just feel good. I feel real good. I'm happy right now."
Local veterinarian Dr. Melinda Merck, one of the nation's top forensic vets, is assisting the prosecution in the investigation of dogfighting at property owned by Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in Surry County, Virginia, she confirmed Monday. Merck said she was working with the Surry County sheriff's office and Commonwealth attorney Gerald Poindexter. Merck, of Canton, had no knowledge of what was removed from Vick's property last Thursday, when the office of inspector general, U.S. Department of Agriculture executed a warrant — the third at the property. "I wasn't involved in that aspect," Merck said. "I have no direct knowledge of what they found and no one has called (Monday) to give me an update." Merck said she couldn't comment on the specifics of her role in the investigation. Brown has said that he planned to set up a meeting this week to review the evidence in the case.
The Daunte Culpepper saga is about to get the feel of a legal drama. The NFL Players' Association said Monday it will file a grievance against the Miami Dolphins on behalf of quarterback Daunte Culpepper by the end of the week - possibly by this morning. Richard Berthelsen, the union's general counsel, said the NFLPA will argue that the Dolphins violated the terms of Culpepper's contract when they told him Friday that he would not be allowed to practice with the team. "The first paragraph of the player contract says, 'Club employs player as a skilled football player,' '' Berthelsen said. "A club that refuses to allow a player to practice is not letting them do their job "The situation is just not right. They are, in effect, breaching his contract by refusing to employ him. He either has a right to be employed there or elsewhere and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that result occurs." Both the Dolphins and the NFL said they will have no comment until the grievance is filed.
Hell will freeze over before the Patriots allow holdout, franchised corner Asante Samuel to bolt to the Jets - unless New York is willing to part with two first-round draft choices. Of course, it will also take hell freezing over before Eric Mangini gives Belichick and Pioli two first-rounders. So there is no practical way for Samuel to end up with the Jets, just as there was no prayer of Deion Branch going to New York last year. So any conversations the Jets have with Samuel are done with only the intention of poisoning the waters in New England.
At 32, seven years after playing his last NFL game, and six years after doctors told him he would never play again, Andre Wadsworth is trying to come back with the Jets. Wadsworth, the third pick overall out of Florida State in 1998 as a pass-rushing defensive end, is attempting to battle back from 15 surgeries -- 13 on his knees and two on his Achilles' tendons. In fact, he has had more surgeries than career sacks (eight in 36 games) and is perhaps the biggest bust in the star-crossed history of the Cardinals. "No, it's not about changing my legacy. It's about playing a sport that I love," Wadsworth said last week. "I have an opportunity to do it and you don't have forever to do it. I'm just trying to squeeze the little bit of time I have left since I'm healthy. "There's nothing I can do about what happened in my career. A legacy is something you want to change if you did something you had control of. I had no control of what happened to me. So I have no regrets or remorse because I played the hand I was dealt and I played it to the best of my ability."
As for the wide receiver position, the Titans might have interest in reacquiring Justin McCareins, though he is still the property of the New York Jets. The Jets might be now leaning toward keeping McCareins and his $2.9 million salary this season. “I think the Jets may have decided to keep him now,” McCareins’ agent Cliff Brady said. McCareins, according to reports, has performed well during the Jets OTAs.
Just for the record, when quarterback Tony Romo predicted a Super Bowl run for the Cowboys in 2007, he wasn't just caught up in the moment. Romo said his opinion is based on what the Cowboys did last season and the potential he sees for next year based on their play during last weekend's minicamp. Fielding a question from the audience during the Dallas All Sports Association Hall of Fame luncheon Monday, Romo said, "I think we've got a chance to go real deep. I think this team has a shot at winning the whole thing." Asked to clarify his statements following the luncheon, Romo didn't back down. He said the Cowboys have as good a chance as anybody. "I think part of it is what I saw at camp and part of it is what we've got coming back," Romo said. "But seeing what I saw at camp excites me."
The NFL Players Association produced copies of seven checks sent on behalf of former player Brian DeMarco for $9,748.81 in the last nine months after DeMarco appeared at a Chicago news conference and on Chicago television Monday to claim he was getting no help from the union for what he called crippling disabilities. "No one in my office could believe this was the guy they were talking about," said NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw on Monday night. "We've been taking care of this guy." DeMarco, 35, former offensive lineman for Jacksonville and Cincinnati, appeared at Mike Ditka's restaurant as part of an ongoing effort by "Gridiron Greats" to help retired players in dire need.
This is an important offseason for Deion Branch. He did not join the Seahawks until last September, when he was acquired in a trade with the New England Patriots -- and after sitting out the entire offseason and training camp in a contract dispute. Branch caught 53 passes in 14 games, but needs to develop a rapport with quarterback Matt Hasselbeck that was missing last season. "The offseason is going to be good," Branch said. "Even though we've only got three more practices, I'll be around, Matt will be here. We'll still be doing a lot of extra things."
Today will be important to see how Donovan McNabb bounces back from the increased work load, although Andy Reid said that McNabb "has been working harder than what we did out here in the rehab process. "But, again, you get out there and get your juices going and you start banging that thing a little bit harder into the ground on your drops than you normally would, so we'll see how he does there." From here, McNabb will continue to take it "day by day," Reid said. And the team will wait. And hope.
On one level, the Patriots had better hope Randy Moss was dogging it at minicamp, because if the performance was an actual indication of what Moss has left in the tank, the entire character discussion will become moot.
Boston Herald... Patriots RB Laurence Maroney will shoot a TV spot for Reebok and Modell’s this afternoon at Madison Park Vocational-Technical High School.
Among the Chargers contracts that run out after 2009 are those of quarterback Philip Rivers, left tackle Marcus McNeill and linebacker Shawne Merriman. That's three Pro Bowlers at big-money positions. Additionally, Rivers and McNeill are represented by Sexton, and Merriman picked up agent Tom Condon this offseason. Both agents are among the biggest in the business, and neither exchanges holiday cards with Smith. Also up after '09: defensive end Luis Castillo and receiver Vincent Jackson. Smith would like to keep all five players and is confident he can. The Chargers likely will approach one, two or all three of the big fish within the next year.
Deion Branch finally joined the Seahawks' "voluntary" workouts Monday -- a week late -- and arrived with a reason that was at least original. The veteran wide receiver not only was on his honeymoon, his return from St. Lucia was delayed by tropical storm-type conditions in the Caribbean that forced Branch and his bride, Shola, to prolong their stay by two days. "It was just bad weather," Branch said after practice. "They get a lot of wind. We were flying on a helicopter, so that kind of held us back a little bit." Coach Mike Holmgren was expecting Branch to join practice last Tuesday.
After rushing for 1,695 yards to set a team record for the San Francisco 49ers last season, Frank Gore, 24, a Coral Gables High graduate, signed a reported four-year, $28 million contract extension through 2011 in March. Included in the deal was a $6.5 million signing bonus and $14 million in guaranteed money. The financial stability means Gore, once classified as having a learning disorder, and his family no longer need to worry about his surgically repaired knees giving out or their new lives from falling apart. It means his two sons, 1-year-old Demetrius and 5-year-old Frank Jr., who played Pee-Wee football last season at Suniland Optimist, can live a better life than their father did growing up. ''I always wanted to play football and take care of my family, but I had a lot of bad breaks you know,'' said Gore, whose mother's home is filled with posters, photos, cards, jerseys, helmets and other memorabilia from his days at Coral Gables High, UM and his first two seasons with the 49ers. ``All I needed was for a team to take a chance on me so I could show them they had a good player. It feels good knowing now my mother and my family doesn't have anything to worry about anymore. Now, I can do anything I want for her and them.'' With the new contract, his three-bedroom house in Davie and the home he surprised his mother, sister and brother with last Thanksgiving have been paid for. His mom's new baby blue-colored Lexus RX-350 (another surprise last month) and his brother's Infiniti are paid for, too. Gore's next purchases, he said, will be a home for him in San Francisco and a car for Shemika, who works as an after-school teacher in the West Grove and drives their mother to weekly dialysis treatments. ''We got so much room in this house,'' said Shemika, who once slept on a small living room couch in the old Gore home. ``I love my bed. I love my room. I love this house.''
"He ain't taking a U-Haul to the graveyard." -- NFL Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, characterizing NFLPA leader Gene Upshaw as being greedy.
Ben Coates, 37, currently is in North Carolina contemplating his next move in coaching after spending the previous two years on Romeo Crennel’s staff in Cleveland. In the meantime, he wouldn’t mind earning a piece of Patriots immortality. “It’s a great honor to be nominated,” he said. “Just to be mentioned with those type of guys, like Andre Tippett, Bruce Armstrong, the guys who played before my era. It would be a total honor to join them.”
If the Vikings trade outspoken cornerback Antoine Winfield, the Patriots, who have two first-round draft picks next spring, would seem a logical destination. New England cornerback Asante Samuel, by the way, is holding out for more guaranteed money.
One player who is potentially available that could interest the Titans is Alex Brown of the Chicago Bears. Brown is attempting to force a trade from the Bears, though Chicago thus far has been somewhat reluctant to accommodate him.
“Then there's Merriman,” one agent said of the Chargers linebacker who led the NFL in sacks last season. “He's the best defensive player in the league. . . . I'd just assume he's unsignable at this point.” It is likely that one of the players will have the franchise tag put on him in 2010, and the cheapest to franchise likely will be Merriman. Linebackers had the sixth-highest franchise number this year.
Ravens LB Ray Lewis said he is not close to calling it quits. "It's incredible. Some people say you go reverse once you hit the 30 mark, but I think I'm going the other way," said Lewis, 32, whose Ravens begin their final minicamp of the offseason today. "So where I am right now, it's scary because now I can really see that my best football is ahead of me, and so that's what's more exciting than anything, for me." Lewis probably can expect to play longer than Singletary, Lambert and Butkus because athletes train better now. But, in the same respect, Lewis has taken hits from bigger, stronger blockers than linebackers did in previous eras. Recently, time and those hits have taken their toll on Lewis. He hasn't played a full season since 2003, and he has missed 24 games over the past five seasons because of shoulder and hamstring injuries. But the two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year contends he is healthier than he was over the past couple of seasons. "I don't have any nicks, no real bruises," he said. "I just feel good. I feel real good. I'm happy right now."
Local veterinarian Dr. Melinda Merck, one of the nation's top forensic vets, is assisting the prosecution in the investigation of dogfighting at property owned by Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in Surry County, Virginia, she confirmed Monday. Merck said she was working with the Surry County sheriff's office and Commonwealth attorney Gerald Poindexter. Merck, of Canton, had no knowledge of what was removed from Vick's property last Thursday, when the office of inspector general, U.S. Department of Agriculture executed a warrant — the third at the property. "I wasn't involved in that aspect," Merck said. "I have no direct knowledge of what they found and no one has called (Monday) to give me an update." Merck said she couldn't comment on the specifics of her role in the investigation. Brown has said that he planned to set up a meeting this week to review the evidence in the case.
The Daunte Culpepper saga is about to get the feel of a legal drama. The NFL Players' Association said Monday it will file a grievance against the Miami Dolphins on behalf of quarterback Daunte Culpepper by the end of the week - possibly by this morning. Richard Berthelsen, the union's general counsel, said the NFLPA will argue that the Dolphins violated the terms of Culpepper's contract when they told him Friday that he would not be allowed to practice with the team. "The first paragraph of the player contract says, 'Club employs player as a skilled football player,' '' Berthelsen said. "A club that refuses to allow a player to practice is not letting them do their job "The situation is just not right. They are, in effect, breaching his contract by refusing to employ him. He either has a right to be employed there or elsewhere and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that result occurs." Both the Dolphins and the NFL said they will have no comment until the grievance is filed.
Hell will freeze over before the Patriots allow holdout, franchised corner Asante Samuel to bolt to the Jets - unless New York is willing to part with two first-round draft choices. Of course, it will also take hell freezing over before Eric Mangini gives Belichick and Pioli two first-rounders. So there is no practical way for Samuel to end up with the Jets, just as there was no prayer of Deion Branch going to New York last year. So any conversations the Jets have with Samuel are done with only the intention of poisoning the waters in New England.
At 32, seven years after playing his last NFL game, and six years after doctors told him he would never play again, Andre Wadsworth is trying to come back with the Jets. Wadsworth, the third pick overall out of Florida State in 1998 as a pass-rushing defensive end, is attempting to battle back from 15 surgeries -- 13 on his knees and two on his Achilles' tendons. In fact, he has had more surgeries than career sacks (eight in 36 games) and is perhaps the biggest bust in the star-crossed history of the Cardinals. "No, it's not about changing my legacy. It's about playing a sport that I love," Wadsworth said last week. "I have an opportunity to do it and you don't have forever to do it. I'm just trying to squeeze the little bit of time I have left since I'm healthy. "There's nothing I can do about what happened in my career. A legacy is something you want to change if you did something you had control of. I had no control of what happened to me. So I have no regrets or remorse because I played the hand I was dealt and I played it to the best of my ability."
As for the wide receiver position, the Titans might have interest in reacquiring Justin McCareins, though he is still the property of the New York Jets. The Jets might be now leaning toward keeping McCareins and his $2.9 million salary this season. “I think the Jets may have decided to keep him now,” McCareins’ agent Cliff Brady said. McCareins, according to reports, has performed well during the Jets OTAs.
Just for the record, when quarterback Tony Romo predicted a Super Bowl run for the Cowboys in 2007, he wasn't just caught up in the moment. Romo said his opinion is based on what the Cowboys did last season and the potential he sees for next year based on their play during last weekend's minicamp. Fielding a question from the audience during the Dallas All Sports Association Hall of Fame luncheon Monday, Romo said, "I think we've got a chance to go real deep. I think this team has a shot at winning the whole thing." Asked to clarify his statements following the luncheon, Romo didn't back down. He said the Cowboys have as good a chance as anybody. "I think part of it is what I saw at camp and part of it is what we've got coming back," Romo said. "But seeing what I saw at camp excites me."
The NFL Players Association produced copies of seven checks sent on behalf of former player Brian DeMarco for $9,748.81 in the last nine months after DeMarco appeared at a Chicago news conference and on Chicago television Monday to claim he was getting no help from the union for what he called crippling disabilities. "No one in my office could believe this was the guy they were talking about," said NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw on Monday night. "We've been taking care of this guy." DeMarco, 35, former offensive lineman for Jacksonville and Cincinnati, appeared at Mike Ditka's restaurant as part of an ongoing effort by "Gridiron Greats" to help retired players in dire need.
This is an important offseason for Deion Branch. He did not join the Seahawks until last September, when he was acquired in a trade with the New England Patriots -- and after sitting out the entire offseason and training camp in a contract dispute. Branch caught 53 passes in 14 games, but needs to develop a rapport with quarterback Matt Hasselbeck that was missing last season. "The offseason is going to be good," Branch said. "Even though we've only got three more practices, I'll be around, Matt will be here. We'll still be doing a lot of extra things."
Today will be important to see how Donovan McNabb bounces back from the increased work load, although Andy Reid said that McNabb "has been working harder than what we did out here in the rehab process. "But, again, you get out there and get your juices going and you start banging that thing a little bit harder into the ground on your drops than you normally would, so we'll see how he does there." From here, McNabb will continue to take it "day by day," Reid said. And the team will wait. And hope.
On one level, the Patriots had better hope Randy Moss was dogging it at minicamp, because if the performance was an actual indication of what Moss has left in the tank, the entire character discussion will become moot.
Boston Herald... Patriots RB Laurence Maroney will shoot a TV spot for Reebok and Modell’s this afternoon at Madison Park Vocational-Technical High School.
Among the Chargers contracts that run out after 2009 are those of quarterback Philip Rivers, left tackle Marcus McNeill and linebacker Shawne Merriman. That's three Pro Bowlers at big-money positions. Additionally, Rivers and McNeill are represented by Sexton, and Merriman picked up agent Tom Condon this offseason. Both agents are among the biggest in the business, and neither exchanges holiday cards with Smith. Also up after '09: defensive end Luis Castillo and receiver Vincent Jackson. Smith would like to keep all five players and is confident he can. The Chargers likely will approach one, two or all three of the big fish within the next year.
Deion Branch finally joined the Seahawks' "voluntary" workouts Monday -- a week late -- and arrived with a reason that was at least original. The veteran wide receiver not only was on his honeymoon, his return from St. Lucia was delayed by tropical storm-type conditions in the Caribbean that forced Branch and his bride, Shola, to prolong their stay by two days. "It was just bad weather," Branch said after practice. "They get a lot of wind. We were flying on a helicopter, so that kind of held us back a little bit." Coach Mike Holmgren was expecting Branch to join practice last Tuesday.
After rushing for 1,695 yards to set a team record for the San Francisco 49ers last season, Frank Gore, 24, a Coral Gables High graduate, signed a reported four-year, $28 million contract extension through 2011 in March. Included in the deal was a $6.5 million signing bonus and $14 million in guaranteed money. The financial stability means Gore, once classified as having a learning disorder, and his family no longer need to worry about his surgically repaired knees giving out or their new lives from falling apart. It means his two sons, 1-year-old Demetrius and 5-year-old Frank Jr., who played Pee-Wee football last season at Suniland Optimist, can live a better life than their father did growing up. ''I always wanted to play football and take care of my family, but I had a lot of bad breaks you know,'' said Gore, whose mother's home is filled with posters, photos, cards, jerseys, helmets and other memorabilia from his days at Coral Gables High, UM and his first two seasons with the 49ers. ``All I needed was for a team to take a chance on me so I could show them they had a good player. It feels good knowing now my mother and my family doesn't have anything to worry about anymore. Now, I can do anything I want for her and them.'' With the new contract, his three-bedroom house in Davie and the home he surprised his mother, sister and brother with last Thanksgiving have been paid for. His mom's new baby blue-colored Lexus RX-350 (another surprise last month) and his brother's Infiniti are paid for, too. Gore's next purchases, he said, will be a home for him in San Francisco and a car for Shemika, who works as an after-school teacher in the West Grove and drives their mother to weekly dialysis treatments. ''We got so much room in this house,'' said Shemika, who once slept on a small living room couch in the old Gore home. ``I love my bed. I love my room. I love this house.''
"He ain't taking a U-Haul to the graveyard." -- NFL Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, characterizing NFLPA leader Gene Upshaw as being greedy.
Ben Coates, 37, currently is in North Carolina contemplating his next move in coaching after spending the previous two years on Romeo Crennel’s staff in Cleveland. In the meantime, he wouldn’t mind earning a piece of Patriots immortality. “It’s a great honor to be nominated,” he said. “Just to be mentioned with those type of guys, like Andre Tippett, Bruce Armstrong, the guys who played before my era. It would be a total honor to join them.”
