Month: July 2012

Chargers sign Jackie Battle, Aubrayo Franklin

stevenlourie Chargers, News

The Chargers signed two of the biggest name remaining free agents out there this week and, while they won’t have big impacts, as is the case with almost anyone available in July, they will see some playing time. Franklin’s signing allowed the Chargers to cut Luis Castillo, an oft injured player. Franklin will pair with potential breakout star Cam Thomas at nose tackle, allowing the veteran Antonio Garay to play more defensive end, Castillo’s old position. Garay will rotate some with Vaughn Martin, Corey Liuget, and 2nd round rookie Kendall Reyes at defensive end, and also play some nose tackle. Thomas will see the bulk of the snaps at nose tackle, while Franklin, two years removed from being San Francisco’s franchise player, will see limited snaps.

At the other hand, Battle will provide some more depth behind clear feature back Ryan Mathews. Battle will likely be the 3rd back behind Mathews, another breakout candidate, and veteran Ronnie Brown, who was terrible in Philadelphia last year. He’ll also contribute on special teams, where the Chargers like his abilities and they also mentioned he could play some fullback for them in a pinch. His arrival likely spells the end of Curtis Brinkley in San Diego, unless Brinkley can beat out Battle or Brown in Training Camp. In order to do that, he’ll have to prove he can be an asset on special teams.

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Rams’ Robert Quinn arrested for DUI

stevenlourie News, Rams

Robert Quinn, the 14th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, is a part of what’s sadly become a large group of players in the NFL, players who have been arrested this offseason. Quinn was arrested for DUI this week and is one of 30 NFL players to get arrested this offseason (including Aaron Berry, who got arrested twice in a 30 day span). Because he has no prior legal history, it’s very unlikely he’ll be suspended. He remains the favorite to start opposite Chris Long at defensive end. Possessing all the talent in the world, Quinn is a candidate to get double digit sacks this season, opposite Long, another fearsome pass rusher.

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Ed Reed confirms he’ll play for the Ravens this year

stevenlourie News, Ravens

After an offseason of “will he, won’t he” in regards of Ed Reed’s desire to play in 2012, Reed has confirmed what many, including teammate Ray Lewis, have believed all along, the Reed will play football this season. 2012 will be Reed’s 11th NFL season, all with the Ravens. Reed, who skipped minicamp, was seen at the Ravens facility this week and is expected to be there for Training Camp.

It’s definitely possible that his “retirement threat” was contract related, as he enters a contract year. Reed will make 7.2 million this season, but wants some job security into 2013 and beyond. He reportedly rejected a multiyear extension during the season last year because it paid him less annually than Eric Weddle and Michael Huff (both of whom are making 8 million per). As he’ll be in his age 35 season in 2013, the Ravens could let him test the open market and won’t overpay for his past performance. Of course, he could also choose to retire next offseason.

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Cowboys’ Dez Bryant could face a one game suspension

stevenlourie Cowboys, News

After last week’s domestic abuse arrest (for assaulting his mom of all people, who does that?), Dez Bryant could face league discipline. According to ESPN Dallas’ Todd Archer, there’s a “decent chance” that Bryant could face a one game suspension, even though he has never been arrested before. Archer does also say that “it’s possible Bryant does not miss a game.” Either way, it doesn’t sound like it will be a lengthy suspension. Archer, one of the country’s best beat writers, also says that the NFL will let the legal process play out some first, before deciding on punishment.

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Texans to start extension talks with Duane Brown and Connor Barwin before season

stevenlourie News, Texans

When the season starts, the Texans fully expect to be Super Bowl contenders. Why shouldn’t they be, after going 10-6 and making the AFC semifinals last year, despite having their top 3 offensive players (Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson, and Arian Foster) healthy in the same game just twice (2-0, by the way)? However, before the season starts, the Texans have some matters to attend to in terms of locking down their core.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the Texans are expected to start extension talks with Duane Brown, a 2008 1st round pick, and Connor Barwin, a 2009 2nd round pick, before the season. Brown and Barwin were among the best players at their respective positions, offensive tackle and rush linebacker, last year and deserve hefty contracts. Brown was ProFootballFocus’ 3rd ranked offensive tackle last season, as he did not allow a single sack on 576 pass attempts, while only surrendering 4 quarterback hits and 23 quarterback pressures and committing 5 penalties.

Barwin, meanwhile, had 12 sacks, 19 quarterback hits, and 28 quarterback pressures on 598 pass rush snaps and rated 12th at his position among eligible players in pass rush efficiency (sacks + .75(hits) + .75(pressures)/pass rush snaps). The Texans have some cap room to spare and likely got rid of starters Eric Winston and DeMeco Ryans, while letting other key contributors, Mike Brisiel, Joel Dreessen, and Jason Allen leave, with this in mind.

The Texans have to be hoping to get both signed this offseason, to free up the franchise tag for Matt Schaub. If they get to only extend one, Brown seems like the most likely candidate, given how rarely left tackles are allowed to hit the open market, and given the Texans’ rush linebacker depth with Brooks Reed and 2012 1st round pick Whitney Mercilus.

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Steelers, Mike Wallace “continue to make headway” in extension talks

stevenlourie News, Steelers

Now that the deadline for franchise players to sign long term deals has come and past, only one high profile player remains unsigned, Steelers’ restricted free agent Mike Wallace. Wallace has yet to sign his restricted free agent tender and there is no deadline for him to do so, as he and the Steelers work on a long term deal. The only “deadline” for the two sides is probably Training Camp, which is in about a week. Wallace might not report without a long term deal and with new offensive coordinator Todd Haley coming in, the Steelers want him there at every practice after he’s already missed OTAs and minicamp.

According to the NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora, Wallace and the Steelers “continue to make headway” in extension talks, no surprise as the extension talks have hardly been heated as some other ones have been. Wallace wants to be a Steeler long term and the Steelers want him to be a Steeler long term. They just have to find a contract that both satisfies Wallace’s desire and pays him fairly and works under the cap that the Steelers are backed up against, and presumably will be next offseason as well.

In an act of good faith, the Steelers did not reduce Wallace’s tender value last month when they had a chance to. I expect the two sides to agree to a deal worth 10-12 million per year over 5 years with about half of that guaranteed sometime in the next two weeks. A 2009 3rd round pick, Wallace doesn’t turn 26 until August 1st and has caught 171 passes for 3206 yards and 24 touchdowns already in his 3 year career and might be the league’s fastest player.

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Lions’ Aaron Berry arrested for 2nd time this month

stevenlourie Lions, News

This is just getting ridiculous. This is the NFL’s slowest month of the season, which means all of the players are running around with nothing to do. And what have a large chunk done? Get arrested. 30 different players have been arrested since January, with over half of those arrests coming this month. Aaron Berry apparently decided to one up everyone, getting arrested for the 2nd time this month over the weekend.

After getting arrested for DUI earlier this month, Berry was arrested Saturday night on 3 counts of simple assault after pointing his gun at 3 different people (THUGLIFE?). He’ll undoubtedly be subject to some sort of league discipline, assuming he’s escaping jail time. For a player expected to get his first crack at a starting job this season, this could not have come at a worse time. The Lions are much more likely to give the starting job to rookie 3rd round pick Dwight Bentley or veteran Jacob Lacey now, neither of whom is qualified. For the Lions, this is their 7th arrest of the offseason and further weakens their secondary, already their weakest unit.

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Darrelle Revis expected to report to Jets’ Training Camp on time

stevenlourie Jets, News

Darrelle Revis has been in the news again this offseason with “will he, won’t he” holdout speculation as Revis, who is vastly underpaid over the next 2 seasons, 13.5 million over 2 years, has refused to commit to Training Camp. However, the Associated Press cites a source close with the situation that Revis will be there for day 1 of Training Camp and that the two sides have agreed to discuss a new contract next offseason.

It’s always been a possibility that Revis’ noncommittal attitude was just to see if the Jets would get nervous and budge and that Revis never had any legitimate plans to skip Training Camp. Revis held out two off-seasons ago and got a 4 year, 46 million dollar deal that paid him 32.5 million over the first 2 years, which made him the league’s highest paid defensive player. He’ll be underpaid this season at 7.5 million, but if he keeps up his strong play, he should get upwards of 15 million per year over a longer period of time next offseason. It looks like a win, win all around.

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Maurice Jones-Drew won’t be present for start of Jaguars’ Training Camp?

stevenlourie Jaguars, News

Jaguars’ running back Maurice Jones-Drew skipped the team’s mandatory minicamp last month in June in a protest of his contract and now, with Training Camp on the near horizon, speculation is picking up that he could skip that as well. Right now, the two sides are as far apart as can be. Maurice Jones Drew wants a new contract as he is underpaid at 9.4 million over the next 2 seasons, while the front office won’t even talk contract with him as they want him to honor his commitment, even though they frequently cut underperforming players (just like everyone else) rather than honoring their commitment.

MJD has two options of how to respond. He could just assume they won’t change their mind, see a holdout as pointless and decide to put his crappy team above his finances, or he could hold out until they budge, which would likely mean a very extended holdout. If you ask Fred Taylor, a former teammate and close friend of Jones-Drew’s, MJD will be holding out. Considering how close the two are, I’d bet on him being right. It just remains to be seen how long Jones-Drew will continue his hold out if the front office continues not to budge.

This situation has all the makings of the Chris Johnson holdout last offseason. The Titans eventually paid Chris Johnson right before the start of the season, but, after missing all of the offseason practices and Preseason games, he failed to stay in shape on his own and missed out on valuable practice with a new coaching staff and struggled mightily in 2011.

The only difference here is that Johnson was actually offered a reasonable contract and still kept up his holdout for even more money. The Jaguars won’t even talk to MJD. Considering that MJD accounted for 47.7% of his team’s yards last season, the Jaguars can’t afford to have him miss games or risk getting out of shape. For fantasy football purposes, I’d stay away from him early in drafts and target backup Rashad Jennings late as a high upside sleeper.

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Titans’ Kenny Britt has surgery on other knee, gets arrested

stevenlourie News, Titans

Titans’ receiver Kenny Britt did not have a good week. First, he underwent knee surgery on his left knee, after previously having 2 knee surgeries on his right knee in a 10 month period. The knee surgery was minor as shouldn’t cause him to miss any time, though another procedure like that is hardly good news. What could cause him to miss time is the fact that he was also arrested this week for DUI.

That arrest brings his total up to 8 since entering the league in 2009. Though he’s never been suspended, he easily could have been last season, after getting arrested 3 times last offseason. However, Roger Goodell decided to not to punish players for what happened during the lockout. This time around, he won’t be so likely and if Goodell takes his whole history into account, including what happened during the lockout, it could be a lengthy suspension, up to 4 games even.

Britt is an incredibly talented player who has caught 56 passes for 1146 yards and 12 touchdowns over his last 14 full games. However, the other numbers, 3 and 8, are just are important, with 3 obviously being the amount of knee surgeries he’s had in the last 10 months and 8 being the amount of times he’s been arrested since entering the league. His fantasy stock is trending down right now, while the stock of Nate Washington, who had a 1000 yard season in Britt’s absence last year, and Kendall Wright, a rookie who would move into the starting lineup if Britt missed time, is trending up.

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