Jeff Garcia Should Talk to Matt Birk

by | Jun 7, 2008 | NFL News, NFL Rumors

Another piece from Yahoo! Sports (taken from ProFootballTalk, where we saw it earlier this week, but weren’t in a punchy enough mood to bother writing about), Jeff Garcia is STILL whining about his contract situation.

A few of his quotes:

“If it doesn’t work itself out, if a contract is not presented as far as a renewal to finish my career, then I will seriously think about what my alternate options may be. And it may come to not playing football anymore.”

“I feel like when you mistreat people there comes a time when it doesn’t matter how much you are paid, it’s going to lead to some drastic decisions.”

“It would be really difficult to go through this season and not have something done before the season.  I would like to see the appreciation put out there.”

Yeah, it must be tough to get paid $2 million a year to play in 13 games a year, put up some ok numbers, and head home early after getting tossed aside in the first round of the playoffs by a wildcard team.

Someone needs to take Jeff aside, and make him understand that he’s lucky to have that starting job in the first place–he had one ok half-season after Donovan McNabb went down in Philly, after two miserable seasons in Cleveland and Detroit, and many considered him washed up.  And even now, he hasn’t played a full season or thrown 20 touchdowns since 2002, nor has he averaged over 200 yards a game since 2003, his last in San Francisco.

Yeah, having better wide receivers would help his numbers, but that’s not going to change drastically at this point of the season.  If he’s there, he might have another decent year like last year.  If he’s not, Brian Griese or Chris Simms could probably do about the same–without the whining.

Until the next season, of course.

Cedric Benson Still Doesn’t Get It

by | Jun 7, 2008 | NFL News

Used to be, when you were talking about a former University of Texas running back who went to the pros, and just didn’t get it, there was only one guy you could be talking about.  Now, while Ricky Williams is supposedly on the straight and narrow, participating in OTAs for the first time in a long time, and actually trying to get better, Cedric Benson just can’t seem to get it into his head that his talent does not really make him invincible.

Benson, who was arrested about a month ago for supposedly operating a boat under the influence and then resisting arrest (which he claimed he did not do, and that they police used excessive force), did not help his situation by being arrested early this morning on the suspicion of driving under the influence.

Strangely enough, this might actually improve the situation in Chicago for fantasy football players–if Benson keeps this up, the Bears might just give up on him altogether, and just plan to go with second round pick Matt Forte into the season. 

Of course, that won’t make up for the lack of quarterback or wide receivers…

McFadden signs? Already?

by | Jun 7, 2008 | NFL Breaking News

What’s wrong with this picture? We’re almost two months from training camp and three months from pre-season games starting and three of the top four picks have signed already.

Darren McFadden signed a six-year deal with $26 million in guarantees, according to media reports. The deal leaves Chris Long of the Rams as the only unsigned pick among the top four.

What happened to holdouts? Contract disagreements? Especially with the Raiders, who didn’t sign JaMarcus Russell until it was too late for him to have an impact last year. Are teams really negotiating earlier with their draft picks?

In an ideal world these clowns would come to the realization that they are already making way too much money out of the gate as rookies and they should be grateful to be set up for life. But almost assuredly these are exceptions and in reality the rule of a holdout or two a year will again hold true.

How to Handle a Contract Dispute

by | Jun 6, 2008 | Business of Football, Contract Squabbles

OK, I think everyone here knows that we here at ZoneBlitz are predominantly fans of the Minnesota Vikings, being the local team.  And, I think I can speak for my brother when I say that over the last 10 years, Matt Birk has become one of our favorite players on the team.  Local guy, Harvard grad, very down to earth from what we’ve seen/heard, and co-owner of a couple of fairly nice local restaurants.

There has been a lot made in some media outlets of his absence from OTAs this past offseason, apparently due to his being upset over his contract situation (which expires after this coming season).

Birk finally spoke publicly about the situation today, and I tell you what–Chad Johnson, Chris Baker and the rest could really stand to take some notes.

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Tyree fighting for roster spot … duh

by | Jun 4, 2008 | NFL News, NFL Random Thoughts

There are some rumblings from the east coast that Super Bowl hero David Tyree might be in a fight for his roster spot this season. Hopefully those reports are correct because he should be.

Don’t get me wrong. Tyree had a great Super Bowl making one of the finest plays you’ll ever see in crunch time, and he also caught a touchdown pass earlier in the fourth quarter. His place in history will be secure for his play in that game, as it should be…

But David Tyree is not an elite NFL wide receiver, or at very least, he still has a lot to prove if he is. In five years with the Giants he has played in 73 games and caught 54 passes. Outside the playoffs last year he rocked the league by catching four passes for 35 yards, nary a one for a touchdown, in 12 games.

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