The Rumor Mill

[POJO_Risin]

I do Love Madden and like how the college game and the pro game for XBox transers over...so if you are doing Dynasty mode...your players can contine into the NFL...that's some solid shit...

[POJO_Risin]

I would agree with you BS...but I like the thought of Madden getting tested with the #2 game dropping their price...

If Madden even comes down 10 bucks...well...we make out...

[ALinChainz]

by Profootballtalk editor Mike Florio



POSTED 8:11 a.m. EDT, June 14, 2004



BALL DISPUTE ABOUT MORE THAN MONEY?



A league source tells us that Chargers center Jason Ball wants out of San Diego not just because he wants a long-term deal, but because he's unhappy with the direction of the franchise.



Hey, has the kid been talking to Archie Manning or something?



Per the source, Ball could ignite discussions toward a long-term contract with the Chargers if he merely reports to training camp. And that stance by the Chargers is a departure from the position we're told they took in February, when they told Ball there would be no talks on a long-term deal.



Because he's an exclusive rights free agent who has not yet signed his one-year, $380,000 tender offer, Ball is under no obligation to participate in any team activities, since he simply isn't under contract. If he were to play out the 2004 season, his third NFL year, he'd be eligible for restricted free agency in 2005.



Ball can report to the team on the eve of the regular season opener, sign his tender, and still receive $380,000 in salary this year. Likewise, he can show up for the final six games, get a prorated salary, and secure his fourth year of credited NFL service, preserving his eligibility for free agency.



If, on the other hand, the Chargers get sufficiently miffed by his looming absence from training camp and rescind the tender offer, he'll become an unrestricted free agent now.



In our view, this is the natural consequence of the Chargers' decision to cave in to Eli Manning in April, when the No. 1 pick in the draft said he didn't want to come to San Diego. It set a bad precedent for the Chargers, who now must decide whether to take a hard line with an undrafted gem who started eight games in 2003 at center before an ankle injury knocked him out for the balance of the season.



NINERS PLAYING PETERSON PROPERLY?



We like the idea of putting the bottom-line offer to a player on the table when faced with a ridiculous demand from his agents, since it forces the kid to walk away from a lot more than he would under the traditional back-and-forth dialogue, since the process when the starting number is insanely high breaks down before the team ponies up any real money. That's precisely what the 49ers did last week when, in the face of a request for a $30 million bonus for franchise player Julian Peterson, the Niners offered a deal with $15.5 million up front -- and G.M. Terry Donahue announced their intentions to the free world.



As one league insider explained to us, the team's decision to make the offer public likely was intended to pressure Peterson's agents, Carl and Kevin Poston, to take advantage of the opportunity to prove that they're not hopelessly unreasonable, as events of the past few months have suggested. And the move also might have been specifically prompted by reports that Rams franchise player Orlando Pace might have been willing to accept the money the Rams reportedly were willing to offer, if the negotiations hadn't been derailed by yet another Postons moon-shot demand.



Still, not everyone thinks the strategy is sound. As another league insider told us, "I don't like the idea of negotiating through the media," and "I'm not crazy about the money that [the 49ers] are offering . . . . I don't think that he's THAT good. He's not that type of a difference maker."



The insider shared another nugget of wisdom with us: "Be careful how rich you make a dumb guy."



Peterson notched a score of 8 when he took the Wonderlic test, landing him somewhere between a bowl of tepid Jello and a busted transistor radio on the overall intelligence hierarchy. And for anyone who's ever been privy to Peterson's appearances on the NFL Network, our guess is you'd rather see the wiggly green stuff on the stool next to Rich Eisen.

[ALinChainz]

by Profootballtalk editor Mike Florio



POSTED 8:33 a.m. EDT, June 15, 2004



'BOYS LEANING TOWARD KEEPING BRYANT?



In response to our weekend analysis of the chances of Cowboys receiver Antonio Bryant sticking around in Dallas after stuffing his jersey in the face of coach Bill Parcells last Tuesday, a source in Big D tells us that current indications are that the team will find a way to work with the third-year receiver, due in large part to his potential.



"This kid is way too talented just to let go," the source said. "Bill knows that this kid has talent. I believe in my heart that he is going to try and work with him."



The source also said that the final paragraph of our Saturday story might in the end carry the most truth -- Parcells, if he keeps Bryant, will try to break him, once and for all.



Others beyond Dallas think that the Cowboys merely are attempting to drive up the trade market for Bryant, and that they'll move him during training camp, perhaps after a team or two loses a starting receiver to injury. This strategy also would permit the Cowboys to seek and/or to obtain a replacement at a lower cost.



Our current thinking is that Bryant probably will be back, even though Antonio's direct assault on the freaking head coach has crossed a line that pulls the NFL even closer to that morass of miscreants known as the NBA.



NO PADS IN COWBOYS PRACTICE



ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli recently teased his readers with the notion that the Cowboys might have been wearing shoulder pads in practice, based on initial reports regarding the Bryant fiasco that he threw his jersey and pads. As explained in Pasquarelli's oft-tedious Tip Sheet, the 'Boys pulled a Roswell on this one, engineering the prompt removal of any reference to the pads from all public accounts of the incident, in order to avoid potential scrutiny of the league office and/or the NFLPA.



Possibly in an intentionally deft piece of non-reporting, Pasquarelli has fueled speculation regarding the used of pads at Cowboys offseason practice by not tracking down the truth and presenting it.



So we've finished the job for him: A team source tells us unequivocally that the Cowboys were not wearing pads.



"This team was not in pads," said the source. "If our beat writers were worth a sh-t, they would have done more than guess that we were in pads. Like maybe they could have asked two or three or four other sources."



Our source also pointed out that the practices are now taped. Thus, it would be easy for the NFL or the union to prove that teams are wearing pads when they shouldn't be.



COUCH, PACKERS WORK OUT A DEAL



A few days back, we suggested that the recent release of Tim Couch by the Browns didn't mean that he'd quickly reach a deal with the Packers, since the hang-up in past discussions wasn't the issue of compensation between the teams, but between the Pack and Couch.



So on Monday, Couch and the Packers reached agreement on a one-year deal.



In lieu of a $7.6 million salary that Couch would have earned in Cleveland this year, he'll receive $1.25 million, plus incentives, in Green Bay. This will allow Couch to look for a starting job in March 2005, if Packers starter Brett Favre doesn't decide to retire following the 2004 season.



TUESDAY ONE-LINERS



The Dolphins are expected to reduce DE Adewale Ogunleye's tender offer from $1.8 million to $412,000, which will protect the team in the event he decides to show up only for the minimum number of games to qualify for free agency in 2005.



Vikings RB Michael Bennett is "faster than ever" and taking on a leadership role in Minnesota.



Free-agent LB Jason Gildon is meeting with the Bills on Tuesday.



Panthers LB Mark Fields is back on the practice field after fighting Hodgkin's Disease.



Giants TE Jeremy Shockey is seeking a second opinion on his injured right foot.



Miami G.M. Rick Spielman says that the Fins aren't interested in trading for Cowboys WR Antonio Bryant.



Giants QB Kurt Warner thinks that his wobbly passes and confusion regarding the offense are related to his lack of familiarity with the team's offense (and we think these problems are related to the fact that he's lost it -- and it ain't never comin' back).



Giants coach Tom Coughlin is trying to show RB Tiki Barber how to avoid dropping the ball.



Beyond the $2 million signing bonus, the contract extension given to Steelers QB Tommy Maddox doesn't pay him much more money than his old deal -- unless he's able to keep Ben Roethlisberger on the bench for most of the next four seasons (and play really well).



The Titans are expecting RB Eddie George to attend team workouts that open on Tuesday.

[POJO_Risin]

No...and no...to the last statement about freakin' Maddox...

Roethlisberger will be starting by week 10...and Maddox will be selling Va life insurance...

[Va Beach VH Fan]

That's a bet.....

[ALinChainz]

The extension is a smoke screen, he'll never see that money and will only earn slightly more than he would have this season.

Clock is running on Maddox.

[POJO_Risin]

and running quickly...

Okay Va...gee...lets see...what to bet...hmmm...how about some beer...lmfao...there's a stretch...

[ALinChainz]

by Profootballtalk editor Mike Florio



POSTED 7:10 a.m. EDT, June 16, 2004



CBA GLITCH LIMITS BALL, OGUNLEYE



At least two current NFL players have threatened to refrain from signing current contract offers until only six regular season games remain, since six games on the roster is the magic number for picking up a year's credit toward free agency.



Specifically, Chargers center Jason Ball intends to delay signing his one-year, exclusive rights tender, and Dolphins defensive end Adewale Ogunleye plans to delay signing his restricted free agent tender until the last possible minute, meaning holdout of up to ten weeks.



Ten weeks, however, could be three weeks too many.



A league source has pointed out to us a glitch in the collective bargaining agreement that could be used to prevent Ball and Ogunleye from picking up credit for 2004. Specifically, Article XXXII, Section 4(c)(iii) of the CBA permits players such as Ball (who has "two but less than three Accrued Seasons") and Ogunleye (an Article XIX Restricted Free Agent who has been given the required tender) to be placed on the so-called "roster exempt" list until the day following the third regular season game after he signs his contract, if he shows up after the fourth preseason game.



This means that, if Ball and/or Ogunleye show up after Week Ten in order to get their requisite six games, the Chargers and/or the Dolphins can drop them onto the roster exempt list and prevent them from meeting this goal.



The Miami Herald vaguely alludes to this dynamic in its Wednesday edition, but provides no details for its suggestion that the possibility of a "three-game suspension" would require Ogunleye to report after seven games instead of his original plan of missing ten. It's not a suspension per se, but placement on the roster exempt list operate in the same manner, keeping the player from getting paid and from getting credit for the three weeks that he spends on the roster exempt list after showing up.



In order to place a player on the roster exempt list, the team must give the player written notice of its intention to do so at least five days prior to the second preseason game.



Though the CBA seems to suggest that the exemption is automatic, the source has indicated that placement on the roster exempt list might require the exemption to be formally granted by the league office. (We'll get more info on this point.)



The source also told us that he is not aware of a team ever using the exemption to keep a player from qualifying for free agency.



"I do not recall ever seeing this done for this reason," the source said. "In the few instances I can recall, the exemption was granted in the early part of the season so a late reporting player -- or otherwise activated player such as from [the] Reserve/Left Squad[list] -- can work out and the team gets to devote that
roster spot to someone available to play. In these cases, there was enough of the season left that an accrued season was not in jeopardy."



In Ogunleye's case, the reduction of his tender by the Dolphins from $1.8 million to $412,000 suggests that the team will take advantage of any rules available to it under the current system.



In Ball's case, well, it's the Chargers. We're confident that they'll find a way to screw up their ability to screw him out of qualifying for restricted free agency in 2005.



WEDNESDAY ONE-LINERS



LB Jason Gildon could end up in Buffalo as a pass-rushing end in their 4-3 alignment.



Titans rookie DE Bo Schobel, who was slated to replace Jevon Kearse, has broken the fifth metatarsal in his right foot; it's the same injury that Kearse suffered in 2002.



Giants RB Tiki Barber thinks he can be another Marshall Faulk in Tom Coughlin's offense (we scoffed at that same possibility three years ago, when it was suggested that Priest Holmes would become Dick Vermeil's new Faulk in K.C.).



Titans DT Albert Haynesworth is back in the team's good graces after losing nearly 30 pounds over the last six weeks.

[POJO_Risin]

Gildon in Buffalo?

Now that would be interesting...

Barber and Holmes are two different backs...ie...Holmes holds onto the ball...

Barber needs stick 'em...

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Originally posted by POJO_Risin
and running quickly...

Okay Va...gee...lets see...what to bet...hmmm...how about some beer...lmfao...there's a stretch...

Go ahead, twist my arm....

OK, OK !!!!

[POJO_Risin]

Alright...winner gets a case...and loser gets a case...

sounds good...

2 cases for all...lmfao...

[POJO_Risin]

Hey chainz...you get any other rumors other than football...with the deadline in baseball creaping closer and closer...and some big names out there...wondering if you had anything going there...

and hoops too...

Malone's already gone the free agent route...and Kobe is going there...and McGrady is setting to make a decision...

just curious...

[ALinChainz]

Originally posted by POJO_Risin
Hey chainz...you get any other rumors other than football...with the deadline in baseball creaping closer and closer...and some big names out there...wondering if you had anything going there...

and hoops too...

Malone's already gone the free agent route...and Kobe is going there...and McGrady is setting to make a decision...

just curious...

I haven't really taken the time to search out a good hoop or baseball rumor mill-ish site.

I know that Malone has stated that if he cannot be absolutely 100% by training camp next season, he is retiring, and at 40 or 41, he should be thinking about it anyway. He missed 39 games this season, maybe he is at the end of the road.

I'm sure Kobe can afford to take the max from another team other than the Lakers, which is 7 years, $103 Million I believe, and with the Larry Bird rule, the Lakes could go as high as $140 for the same.

The Lakers need shooters. Kobe is the only guy they have that can create his own offense, but isn't the most consistent shooter from the outside. He seems like he has to take a minimum of 25 shots per game (being nice with that #), but few are from 3, and isn't a serious threat like say a Reggie Miller.

Payton is gone IMO, Malone too. Shaq may force a trade, he has said as much. Big off season for the Lake Show.

[ALinChainz]

by Profootballtalk editor Mike Florio



POSTED 9:00 a.m. EDT, June 17, 2004



ROOKIE WRANGLING ON THE HORIZON?



A league insider predicts that the coming wave of rookie contract negotiations could be the most contentious and acrimonious ever.



Per the source, many teams already are setting the stage for the use of deals at least four years in length on an across-the-board basis. The Browns have gone a step farther starting last season, forcing rookies to sign five-year deals.



Four-year rookie contracts help teams avoid the restricted free agent tender conundrum, since the player is still under contract when the team otherwise would be deciding the specific level of the offer to make after the three-year contract expires, factoring in the risk that someone will swoop in and sign him.



Five-year deals take the proposition a step farther, essentially wiping out the player's first year of unrestricted free agency.



The problem with these deals is that, for the guys who'll blossom in the NFL, they're trading in the chances for a huge payday after three seasons (see Laveranues Coles) in exchange for a relatively minor bump in their rookie signing bonuses. Last season, the NFLPA circulated a memo explaining to agents the dangers of these four-year deals, but it looks like they'll become somewhat of a fixture in the NFL as more and more teams cram them down players' throats.



Another problem this season, as we mentioned a few weeks back, is that the lack of an extension to the collective bargaining agreement shortens by one the number of seasons over which the signing bonuses of first-round picks can be prorated, resulting in bigger 2004 cap numbers for these players. Since the 2004 rookie pool won't be increasing significantly over 2003, it'll be harder for teams to get all of their rookies signed to deals that stay under the allotment of cash available for their first seasons.



NFL EUROPE A WASTE OF TIME?



There's an increasing feeling in league circles that a tour of duty in NFL Europe has become, in essence, a waste of time for players trying to develop their skills.



Why, you ask? The expansion of offseason workout programs means that players who spend a couple of months in the land of stinky armpits will miss out on much of the preparations for the coming season.



With the exception of quarterbacks, who often need the live reps in game situations in order to truly reach their maximum skill level, most players are better off staying with their NFL teams from February through June.



This could, in time, spell the end of the NFL's long-term European experiment, possibly prompting the creation of a true minor league in second-tier American cities that would play its season at the same time the NFL season unfolds.



OBSERVATIONS ON TEAM TALENT



Since it's a bit sssslow right now around the NFL, we've been trying to gin up some stuff worth reporting -- short of just making things up.



So we asked one NFL personnel department for their thoughts on the most talented rosters in the league. The following five teams were identified, not necessarily in this order: Packers, Panthers, Ravens, Chiefs, and Steelers.



Whether or not, of course, these teams are successful in 2004 depends largely on coaching and injuries.



The Steelers arguably are the most surprising addition to this list, given an offensive line that played poorly in 2003 and unsettled backfields on both sides of the ball. Still, they've got a solid group of linebackers, a respectable defensive line, and one of the best trios of receivers in the league -- if, of course, two of them show up this year.



We also asked for a list of the most improved teams. Here's what we were told, again in no specific order: Jaguars, Raiders (because of talent infusion), and Cardinals (because of new coach).



The two worst teams by way of talent? The Browns and (you guessed it) the Chargers.



THURSDAY ONE-LINERS



The Packers are trying to decide whether to pay DE Jamal Reynolds a $217,500 roster bonus next month, or cut him.



Pats LB Tedy Bruschi has signed a contract extension that will pay him $8.1 million over four years, with a $3.5 million bonus.



The Jags are in line to be the first subjects of a Hard Knocks-style training camp documentary on the NFL Network.



The Ravens unveiled alternative all black uniforms that they will wear once this season (several players on the team could be wearing on a more regular basis a slightly modified version more sporting a series of white stripes).



The Jaguars say that they are closely monitoring the situation between the Dolphins and DE Adewale Ogunleye, in the event the Fins decide to trade him.



Vikings Hall-of-Fame S Paul Krause is still miffed that the team hasn't retired his number 22 jersey; Vikings fans are still miffed that Krause, who says that coach Bud Grant told him "Don't get beat deep" and "You're the last guy back there," was nothing more than a bystander to the Staubach-Pearson Hail Mary in 1975, which pulled the plug on arguably the best Vikings team ever.