silvermike

It'll definitely put the Jets ahead of the Bills - in every ESPN pre-season power rankings. Then the games will start, Favre will struggle for a few weeks with a new system to learn and new receivers to get used to, and the team won't give him too much support. He'll get hammered by the New York press corps, and eventually retire at the end of the year, forcing the Jets to start all over at QB once again.

I think I wanted to draft a linebacker in the first round and grab him in the second last year. I'm a chump.

I think Hardy's got a pretty strong shot at locking up the #2 WR spot. I'm not sure who Darian Barnes is even competing with right now. And Wright and Omon have a ways to go to catch Freddy. So it's really TE that's the strongest competition. That, and the LT showdown between Chambers and Bell. Ugh.

The Bills seem to be taking a hard line against holdouts - show up to camp, and we'll work with you to get a fair deal. They have a track record of making fair deals with players. I can't argue with that too strongly.

I mean, it would hurt our performance on the field, but Peters can sit out indefinitely and never become a free agent if the Bills are willing to play hardball.

What's amazing is how quickly first-round salaries get reasonable. Really, a little over $3M/per for McKelvin? That's the kind of money we're giving to Kyle Williams - a rotational starter. That sounds fair. It's hte top ten - five, really - that are bizarre.

Didn't that guy post here for a while, without particularly distinguishing himself?

It's a fair rule, it's just been unfairly applied: They told him he could play, they told the Lions he could play, he got drafted, they bragged about how fair they were and what a great PR move this would be for the Army, and then the day before he's supposed to show up for work, they tell him he can't.

I really think it comes down to Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland fighting over two spots.

Is it true that in the CFL, you can catch a pass after it bounces and you can score one point on an extra-long kickoff?

Yeah, but he is violent. And that's all they want to see - plays where the ESPN anchors can shout "JACKED UP!" It's worth more than good coverage.

Remember when everyone thought Ralph was old and senile because he voted against the new CBA? You know, the one that was voted down 32-0 a mere two years later? That's all you have to know about the media and Ralph Wilson.

I don't think either Miami or the Jets are in the market for a journeyman QB to start right now. The Dolphins have Henne and Beck competing for a long term starting position, and the Jets will give up on Pennington and the new guy eventually for a top-round rookie or high-profile trade. JP's going to end up somewhere as a backup.

There's nothing to worry about until the doors actually open at St. John Fisher. Nobody has expressed some disastrous situation with the negotiations, and virtually all 2nd and 3rd round picks come into camp. They'll be there - McKelvin might be a day or two late, but Whitner got through that okay. It's the month-long holdouts that are trouble.

Don't forget FB Damien Barnes. I think they're pretty committed to that position. There are going to be some tough cuts this August.

The NHL has effectively banned holdouts altogether, and not even allowed renegotiation to happen until the year before a contract expires. This would never happen without the guaranteed contracts NHLers have, but would you take those two together if it ended this nonsense?

Is he leaving the News? He was one of the good ones in that pit of Sullivans and Gleasons.

Paul Posluszny signed July 25th, 2007, for comparison's sake. Virtually no picks outside of the first round hold out at all, so until we here a strident agent in the press or camp actually opens, I'm not worried about anyone besides McKelvin. As far as he goes, well, let's wait and see what happens when #10 and #12 sign. Until then, it's always going to be touch and go.

It's true that the Packers can't control what a team did after Favre was sent their way. However, if there was a gentleman's agreement between two GMs, the latter would find himself struggling to make too many trades in the future. You shoot your credibility to hell in one go. That said, this is the NFL, and trades aren't too important. It might be worth it.

I think that the Packers have really done all they can to support Rodgers at this point. They haven't abandoned him, they've named him the starter and told Favre that if he unretired, he wouldn't take the starting job again. Period. What else could they do?

How does Madden compare miscellaneous, low-round rookies, anyway? I can't imagine they do that much research.

Yeah, I think everybody besides Upshaw and Jake Long agree that the system is broken at the top of round one. There's a limited number of dollars out there, and it's a zero sum game: every dollar that goes to a rookie doesn't go to a veteran.

I still think drafting Youboty was the right move given the information we had at the time. It just didn't work out. You can only pile so much blame on a coach/GM when they make the right decision and it doesn't work. Similarly, you can't give them too much credit if they make the wrong decision and it does work out okay - I'd put Donte Whitner in that category.

I mean - I think marijuana should be legalized, and I really don't see too much of a reason why the NFL needs to care on way or the other. That said. God is he a dumbass. If I had a job that paid me millions of dollars every year, but I'd lose it by smoking weed, I'd never touch a joint. If they told me I'd lose the job if I ate a slice of pizza, I'd give it up. I don't care how arbitrary the rule is - you follow it because they make it worth your while out there. Unless weed is actually worth $5M a year to him...that's even scarier.

That sounds about right for Trent. If he just gets a few passes downfield in there to keep DBs honest, and limits interceptions, I'll be a happy guy.