Could Toe be Stewart’s Downfall?

by | Aug 7, 2008 | Fantasy Football

In a quick blurb that warrants mentioning & following (especially for all those who are convinced they’ve found this year’s Adrian Peterson), Panthers’ rookie RB Jonathan Stewart is still being hampered by a toe he injured last November at Oregon, and had surgically repaired this offseason.

He is considered a game-day decision for their preseason opener this Saturday.

“We’re just being precautionary. He’s progressing just fine,” coach John Fox said. “He’s getting plenty of reps and is at all the meetings. Mentally, he’s just fine.”

But a toe is kind of important for a running back, and I wonder just how much this could continue to cause problems, given that he is practicing and working out on it.  Add comments like this from Stewart, and I start to worry a bit:

“There’s certain things, like the whole explosiveness as a runner, are kind of limited because of the toe.”

Just something to keep in mind as fantasy football draft day(s) approach for many of us.

Breaking News: Favre to J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!

by | Aug 6, 2008 | NFL Breaking News

According to Stu Scott on Sports Center tonight, Brett Favre has been traded to the Jets.  No details yet on what the Packers will receive as part of the deal.

In an interview with Mark Schlereth (who’s nickname, Stink, makes me laugh–and who surprise surprise dropped that he played with Elway, made comparisons to his Broncos teams, and mentioned that he played for the Redskins, all in a 5 minute interview), says that it legitimizes the Jets offense immediately.

Of course, I wonder how the lack of practice with the team will impact him–and how he will adapt to a non-West Coast offense, even with the help of Bill Callahan, who is familiar with the West Coast offense.

Of course, the move does immediately raise the fantasy value for WRs Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery, and probably further elevates RB Thomas Jones.

And, while I’m not sure the Jets are quite on the Patriots level quite yet–they could at least make things interesting in the AFC East–and between the Bills and Jets beating on the Patriots 4 times this season, it might make the AFC even more wide open.

Brandon Marshall Suspended 3 Games

by | Aug 6, 2008 | Fantasy Football

In a move that likely INCREASES his fantasy football value for the upcoming season, Broncos WR Brandon Marshall was suspended for only 3 games on Wednesday.

The suspension could be seen as increasing his value, as rumors of a 4 to 8 game suspension were making the rounds–and Marshall can reduce it to just 2 games, if he undergoes counseling and takes other corrective actions.

Still, his lawyer isn’t happy with the suspension, and clearly doesn’t understand the issues that have come up recently around players getting in trouble in the NFL:

“There’s no basis for discipline,” Marshall’s lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, argued during an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday night. “Mr. Marshall has not been convicted nor charged with a crime.”

At the same time, the lawyer does point out one of the more ridiculous conflicts of interest at league headquarters:

“I get to appeal to the guy who imposed the discipline,” Steinberg said.

So Der Kommissar can admit that he was too harsh, or he can deem himself just in deciding the suspension. Which way do you think he’ll lean?

Goodell Rules: Vikings Didn’t Tamper

by | Aug 4, 2008 | Business of Football

Der Kommissar Roger Goodell has handed down his verdict on the tampering charges filed against the Minnesota Vikings by the Green Bay Packers–and that verdict is not guilty.  The Vikings, whom the Packers claimed encouraged Brett Favre to return, sparking this whole fugly mess of a situation that we all can’t escape, admitted that coaches Darrell Bevell and Brad Childress spoke to Favre, but claimed they were ‘run-of-the-mill, innocent exchanges.’

So, now our question is–are the Packers, who supposedly had some phone records proving the contact(despite never issuing a team cell phone to Brett Favre), guilty of tampering (to obtain those phone records) and/or some other rule that probably isn’t but should be in place to prevent teams from launching distracting tampering investigations against division opponents?

Otherwise, add it to the list of tactics we can expect Jerry Jones to employ in 2009 to try to finally prove that Jimmy Johnson wasn’t the only reason he won some Super Bowls in the 1990’s.

Goodell Wants Favre Situation Finished

by | Aug 3, 2008 | Business of Football, Contract Squabbles, NFL ... something

Favre Fiasco. Favre Fatigue. Favre F-k Up (of Off).  Whatever you want to call it, Roger Goodell wants the Favre situation done.  By Monday.

But why is it any of his business to make such a declaration?  And why hasn’t he approved a players request for re-instatement for almost a full week?

We were all impressed when Goodell stepped in as commissioner, and started to try to crack down on possibly the only blemish that Paul Tagliabue left him with–the “degradation of the NFL society” we could call it, as several bad boy incidents started to paint the NFL in a bad light.

And I’ve been impressed by his willingness to come out against the ridiculous NFL Rookie pay scale that exists.

But I think by not acting on a players request to be reinstated within a reasonable time frame, and now declaring that he wants the situation resolved by Monday, he’s heading down a slippery path.  If the delay wasn’t in the Packers favor (any delay to the situation hurts whoever ends up with Favre), I would suggest that they file tamporing charges against him.  Of course, since he is the judge, jury and executioner, that wouldn’t get very far.

As to the Favre fiasco, rumors are that the $20-million, 10 year “marketing agreement” offer to Favre may be pushed to an even higher amount through negotiations this weekend. 

Frankly, I still can’t believe that the NFL will allow this type of a deal to happen, without some sort of salary cap implications.  I realize he’s a “retired” player, but as commenter Sir Whoopass pointed out last week, what’s to prevent Jerry Jones from starting to pay players from other teams to not play if the Packers are allowed to pay their own player not to?

Like the Poison Pill negotiating tactic (which to my knowledge wasn’t ever officially banned, but hasn’t been used since the Vikings nabbed Steve Hutchinson, and the Seahawks “retaliated” by signing Nate Burleson), this needs to be nipped in the bud early.

Too bad the NFL doesn’t have a commissioner who is willing to step in on situations like these…