Strahan and Favre can hug again

by | Jun 9, 2008 | NFL Breaking News

Congratulations to Michael Strahan for he is doing what every player dreams of – he’s going out on top.

And ironically he’s going out the same year as Brett Favre, who looked ridiculous in taking a dive when Strahan broke the single-season sack record.

Strahan’s retirement seemed more and more likely as the weeks passed – I’d almost started to believe he really didn’t even want to play last year. But he goes out with a ring and still at or near the top of his game. And despite weird ass teeth, he is extremely well-spoken and has a good personality for television – which is where he likely will end up.

While he goes out after having won the Super Bowl I’d forgotten just how good the rest of his career was. He went to seven pro bowls and had 141.5 career sacks, 140.1 not counting the Favre dive.

What better way to go out. Congratulations, for real, to Strahan. One might wonder if he and Favre might not get together and re-live old times sometime this fall. More power to them – we at Zoneblitz have mocked Favre and we still think his soap opera-ish offseasons have gotten old. But the NFL is losing two extremely interesting personalities heading into the 2008 season and they will be hard to replace.

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.

Young Closer to 2,000 Yard Goal; Broncos Cut Henry

by | Jun 2, 2008 | 2008 NFL Free Agency, Fantasy Football, NFL Breaking News

The Denver Broncos released Travis Henry Monday, just over a year after signing him to a five-year, $22.5 million contract.  GM/Coach Mike Shanahan took the somewhat unusual step of throwing Henry under the bus as he was releasing him.

“We did not feel his commitment to the Broncos was enough to warrant a spot on this football team,” he said.

Henry, who pulled a hamstring running sprints last month in minicamp, also missed time last year due to injuries, and was nearly suspended for a year due to marijuana use, although he was able to get the punishment overturned.

He did manage 691 yards and four touchdowns in his one season in Denver.

The Broncos added veteran Michael Pittman to their backfield last week, and also have Selvin Young, Andre Hall and rookie Ryan Torain on the roster.  Since it remains to be seen who (if anyone) will get the majority of the carries in Denver, fantasy owners should still stay away from the Broncos backfield in the early rounds.

Jason Taylor seeking trade

by | Jun 1, 2008 | NFL Breaking News, NFL Random Thoughts

Media reports, including one just broadcast by ESPN, indicate that Miami Dolphin Jason Taylor thinks it would be best if he could be traded.

John Clayton reporting on ESPN says Taylor isn’t threatening to hold out of training camp but just believes it would be best for both parties to split.

Is anyone really surprised by this? And does anyone really think it’s wrong?

This just seems like Taylor coming out publicly and saying out loud what pretty much every observer has been saying under the table for months. Come on, Dolphins. You’re not going anywhere for a couple years and Taylor isn’t getting any younger. Go get yourself a couple draft picks and give him a chance to chase a ring.

ADDED LATER: Interesting. Sounds like the press conference Taylor called had less to do with demanding a trade and more to do with expressing a willingness to accept a trade, announcing that he hopes to play one more year and clarifying at least some of the conjecture that has been spread regarding his football future.

According to the Associated Press, he announced that he has not spoken with Bill Parcells or Head Coach Tony Sparano, though he also reportedly said Sparano would be a good head coach. He didn’t confirm whether or not he would be at training camp and he did say he wants to play with a winner in 2008, perhaps a backhanded way of saying he would prefer a trade.

The Dolphins have made some interesting moves this offseason, but nothing that is going to turn them into instant winners. So if the future is still a couple or more years away it would seem best for player and team to part, hopefully on better terms than it would seem they are on at the moment.

Young’s 2,000 Yard Goal Even More in Doubt

by | May 27, 2008 | 2008 NFL Free Agency, Fantasy Football, NFL Breaking News

Last week, Selvin Young claimed he thought he could reach 2,000 yards rushing for the Denver Broncos.  Despite the team also having Travis Henry, Andre Hall, and rookie draft pick Ryan Torain also on the roster.

After Henry tweaked his hamstring last week, you can add Michael Pittman to the list of names standing in Young’s rush to 2,000.

“There’s a lot of ways Michael can help the Broncos,” Rosenhaus said. “He can play fullback, halfback, he can catch the ball out of the backfield, return punts and return kicks. He’s a versatile back.”

He can also make a mean battering ram, and between he and Henry, the Broncos might actually get a full season’s worth of carries.

Jesting aside, this likely has little to no significant fantasy impact for 2008–given the injury concerns, and Mike Shanahan’s penchant for splitting carries, if you take a Broncos RB early in the draft you should be mocked mercilessly by your league mates.