In what might become one of the biggest under-the-radar signings of the free agent season D.J. Hackett has left Seattle for the Carolina Panthers – and he has done so for two-years, $3.5 million.
Hackett missed large chunks of 2007 with injuries but when he played he showed solid receiving skills. He’ll pair with Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad, who returned to Charlotte after playing in Chicago the last three years.
A day after the San Francisco 49ers inked their second free agent wide receiver the team has severed ties with Darrell Jackson, the former Seattle Seahawk acquired last off-season for a fourth round pick.
After seven seasons in Seattle, Jackson’s year in the gold country was disappointing. He caught just 46 passes and didn’t eclipse 500 yards.
While Isaac Bruce and Bryant Johnson aren’t going to erase memories of Stallworth and Swann, Moss and Carter or Bruce in his younger days when he teamed with Torry Holt, the duo is an upgrade over the swill the Niners used to impersonate an offense last year.
Indianapolis Colts backup tight end Ben “Ouch My” Utecht has signed a three-year offer sheet with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Colts have the option of matching the offer for Utecht, who has never played a full 16 game schedule, missing seven games in his three NFL seasons.
This seemed like a yawner at first, and I still don’t expect it to warrant front-page attention anywhere. But Utecht can contribute to a good team and the move might give him some sleeper fantasy potential. He can catch the ball. He’s amassed 71 catches for 800 yards and three touchdowns playing behind Dallas Clark, and he won a Super Bowl ring after the 2006 season.
He’s not someone I’d draft or buy in an auction but during bye weeks or if injuries hit a starter, Utecht could make a decent match-up play. It’s not like defenders are going to take their focus away from TJ Houshmandzadeh, Chad Johnson or Chris Henry to stop Utecht, so he could get some solid looks.
Utecht would complement Reggie Kelly, who is considered more of a blocker. He led Bengals tight ends with 20 catches in 2007. Their other tight ends are Deniel Coats, Nate Lawrie and Brad St. Louis, who is a long snapper.
The Detroit Lions cut running back Kevin Jones, according to ProFootballTalk.com
They must feel they don’t need the injury-prone running back anymore what with Tatum Bell on the roster.
Snicker. What are they doing now?
In all seriousness the team has nobody on the roster proven capable of carrying the full-time load at running back. Bell has had one good year and a bunch of mediocre to crappy ones.
For the time being, for fantasy purposes either assume there is another move coming or pretend there are only 31 teams in the league when you make your RB cheat sheets for next season.
We read on ProFootballTalk.com (who linked to BuffaloBills.com–which appears to have lost their site somehow? That can’t be good) this morning that the Bills are considering keeping JP Losman around as the backup to second year QB Trent Edwards next week.
If this is true, and not just a negotiating ploy by the Bills, I’d push any expectations for Buffalo down a couple pegs.
Yes, it gives them a nice backup situation if Edwards goes down–but it also means that Edwards could be looking over his shoulder all offseason, preseason, and regular season, worried that if he screws up, he’ll get the hook.
The crowd might react the same way–if the Bills get out of the gate slowly, and Edwards doesn’t excel, you can always expect them to want the backup.
Given Edwards is a second year player, it would also be nice to have a veteran QB who can serve as a mentor, to help him through rough spots. And given where Losman is in his career, I doubt he’d be the happiest camper in the world if he’s expected to play the mentor role (and I’m not sure I would want him as the mentor in the first place).
Given the season that Losman had in 2006, I’m not sure I would hold it against him for being upset about the decision to make him a backup, as long as he isn’t a d—–bag about it.
From the statistics, it looks like he largely outplayed Edwards in 2007 as well, despite Dick Juaron constantly going back and forth. To be fair to Juaron, both Losman and Edwards were injured at times–but I don’t see how Losman lost the job while injured with Edwards playing ok but not great and the team going 3-2, while Edwards retained his starting job through injury after Losman played ok but not great and the team went 3-2.
In the end, regardless of who ends up at QB in Buffalo in 2008, it shouldn’t have a significant fantasy impact, other than maybe a bye week filler. With an average at best receiver corps, the Bills QB can expect to hand off to Marshawn Lynch a fair amount–and Lynch can expect to face a lot of stacked fronts to stop him, unless they are able to get Lee Evans involved in the game early and often.
The Seattle Seahawks have added Julius Jones to their stable of running backs, a move that further minimizes the presence of Shaun Alexander and possibly Maurice Morris.
The Seahawks agreed to terms with Jones, previously of the Dallas Cowboys, Friday night.
Media reports are conflicting about what this does to Alexander’s roster spot. The Seattle Times reports that there is room under the Hawks’ salary cap to carry both backs. Rotoworld.com is reporting that Alexander will likely be a post-July 1 roster cut – a move that would save the team more than $4 million under the cap.
But what is clear is that Alexander’s days as a feature back and a fantasy football stud, at least for now, are over. Alexander had missed nine games the past two seasons. And the Seahawks had already added T.J. Duckett, a big, short-yardage back, earlier in the week.
Jones, on the other hand, comes with fresh legs. He rushed for 1,084 yards in 2006 but had lost time to Marion Barber III in Dallas and was reportedly looking for a fresh start. He’s never had more than 267 carries in a season. But he has shown flashes of the ability to be a franchise back.
He closed the 2004 campaign, his rookie year, with 22 or more carries in each of the last seven games, including a trio of consecutive games where he ripped off 429 yards and five touchdowns on 93 carries.
While it’s speculation at this point, from a fantasy perspective Jones at this point would seem the odds-on candidate to lead the team in carries in 2008, assuming Alexander is eventually released. Duckett, however, could steal many of the goal-line carries, leading to another dreaded running back-by-committee situation.
Seattle coach Mike Holmgren nearly abandoned the running game at times during the 2007 season. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck had a great year but the team was eliminated from the playoffs by Green Bay in the divisional round.
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