Bears bag Brandon Lloyd

by | Mar 7, 2008 | 2008 NFL Free Agency

The Chicago Bears were allegedly $32 million under the salary cap heading into free agency. But the team hasn’t done much to use that spending cash.

“If money is the bottom line, I don’t want that player,” Bears GM Jerry Angelo said at the NFL Scouting Combine, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

And Angelo has spent the past two weeks proving that true. The Bears did re-sign stud linebacker Lance Briggs.  But beyond that, they traded quarterback Brian Griese and allowed wideout Bernard Berrian to join division rival Minnesota after having cut Muhsin Muhammad.

While both players were flawed they’re quite a bit better than those the journeymen team officials added to replace them. They didn’t even match the Baltimore Ravens offer of four years, $4.9 million for special teams pro-bowler Brendon Ayanbadejo.

Futhermore, they’ve taken Angelo’s comments further with the moves they’ve made to, ahem, fortify their wide receiver position. Their immediate answer to losing Berrian and Muhammad was bringing Marty Booker back. He’s a fine player and he might get them 50 receptions. But his average yards per catch has decreased dramatically each of the last two years.

Now, on Friday afternoon, they dug even deeper for a retread, grabbing off the scrap heap former 49er and Redskin Brandon Lloyd. Lloyd, a big-buck addition in Washington two years ago, has missed nine games the last two years. He contributed just 25 catches during that span. Even when he was good back in 2004 and 2005 he wasn’t THAT good, with 43 and 48 catches respectively and uninspiring yards-per-catch averages and touchdown numbers.

Granted, it’s a one-year contract and odds are he didn’t have to pay that much. But it’s going to be a long year in Chi-town if these are the best wideouts they plan to add to a running game still hampered by trading the wrong back a year ago.

Fantasy ups and downs

by | Mar 7, 2008 | 2008 NFL Free Agency, Fantasy Football

A couple weeks into free agency it’s time to take a look at the impact the signings so far have had on the fantasy football landscape. Some of them – the Randy Moss re-signing, for instance – are pretty straightforward. But a few of the deals will have ramifications beyond the signees themselves.
(more…)

Non-Favre news … mostly

by | Mar 7, 2008 | 2008 NFL Free Agency, NFL Breaking News

I was too broken up by Brett Favre’s retirement announcement Thursday to notice much of what else went on throughout the day. I still think he’s going to come back, but after the press conference, I feel somewhat less strongly about that opinion. He did look like someone who was just plain ready to move on with life. If that is the case more power to him. He had a fantastic career, was extremely entertaining in doing so, and he deserves most of the accolades he’s getting. He goes down, in my opinion, as not the best quarterback of all time (my vote is Joe Montana), but he’s certainly in that top echelon.

Onto other NFL news: Defensive tackle Warren Sapp officially announced his retirement as well. He’s been overrated for a few years now but certainly made an impact in his prime, helping Tampa Bay go from chump to champ. Punter Sean Landeta, who last played in 2005, hung up his single-bar facemask. And Steve Christie … think about it … yeah, the kicker from Buffalo that also hasn’t played in three seasons, also decided to hang it up, signing a one-day contract with his former team. What’s with these guys that have been out of the game forever – especially kickers – pretending anyone cares whether they have officially retired or not? (more…)

How to go 4-12 every year

by | Mar 5, 2008 | 2008 NFL Free Agency

The Oakland Raiders are conducting a clinic on how to build a losing franchise. Here are some of the lessons.

First, hire a new coach every other season.

Second, re-sign a good, not great, injury-prone defensive tackle (Tommy Kelly) to a $50 million, seven-year deal with $18 million guaranteed as he recovers from an ACL tear.

Third, sign a solid, but injury-prone safety (Gibril Wilson) to a six-year, $39 million deal with $16 million in guaranteed money.

Fourth, there’s the deal with the underachieving tackle from San Francisco (Kwame Harris), another $16 million over three years.

Finally, sign a wide receiver with multiple knee issues who caught seven passes in the last five games of the season last year after missing most of it due to the injury and who reportedly still might need microfracture surgery (Javon Walker) to a $55 million, six-year deal with $16 million guaranteed.

Any questions?

It’s almost as though the Raiders are trying to find as many injury prone dogs as possible to force Lane Kiffin into an unwinnable situation so they can replace him too. Hmmm.

Favre to retire? For real?

by | Mar 4, 2008 | 2008 NFL Free Agency, Fantasy Football

For the first time since the third game of the 2002 season someone besides Brett Favre will quarterback the Green Bay Packers’ next game.

In a move that will have sportscasters from John Madden to Dan Dierdorf crying in their Wild Turkey ‘til training camp starts, Favre has informed the team that he’s hanging up his cleats after 17 seasons, 16 of which were with the Packers, according to FoxSports.com and the Biloxi Sun Herald.

No word yet on whether Madden will further discuss his man-crush on Favre. But Packers GM Ted Thompson, acknowledged Favre in a mid-morning statement at www.packers.com. “The Packers owe [Favre] a tremendous debt of gratitude,” he said. “He has given Packers fans 16 years of wonderful memories, a Super Bowl championship among them, that will live on forever. Brett’s many accomplishments on the field are legendary.”

(more…)

Moore inks deal with Pittsburgh

by | Mar 3, 2008 | 2008 NFL Free Agency

In another move that makes no sense to me former Vikings running back Mewelde Moore has reportedly inked a three-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Moore has shown flashes of being a decent, albeit injury-prone player. Moore ran for 662 yards on 155 carries in 2005, so he is capable of putting up decent numbers. But his style is similar to Parker’s so I don’t see him as a complementary back such as the larger Najeh Davenport. So I see him as no better than the Steelers’ third option at running back in 2008 and I don’t see him getting any more playing time on Heinz Field than he did the Metrodome the last two seasons.

The cerebral running back likely will get a chance to contribute on special teams. The Steelers lost Allen Rossum to San Francisco over the weekend. Moore has two touchdowns as a punt returner and a 19.3 average on kickoff returns during his NFL career. But I think he sold himself short. With teams such as Chicago, Seattle and Houston sporting unsettled running back situations he had a chance to hook on with a team where he could potentially compete for a starting job. I don’t think that happened for Moore this time around.