This years NFL Free Agency has brought more action than well... the NBA trade deadline. Late Friday night The league gave us something I haven't seen before. A trade being voided. The league voided the trade the sent Shaun Rogers from the Detriot Lions to the Cincinnatti Bengals for a 1st and a 3rd round draft pick. Then the Cleveland Browns got into the mix, sending Leigh Bodden and a 3rd rounder for Rogers.
It may very well be that trades have gotten voided in recent memory. We just don't hear about it. Trades get submitted to the league office where they are reviewed. I am sure that often times the convoluted languages necessary to make these trades and the contracts they involve, gets screw up. That was the case in the Rogers to Cincinnatti part of this mess. On a normal day the two teams would get back together and hash out whatever language was required to get the leagues ok.
This is not a normal day. Tonight(Friday) at midnight if Shaun Rogers gets a 1 million dollar bonus. The Lions didn't want to be saddled with that, not for a guy that won't be playing for them next season. In their desperation to make a move, they ended up turning to Cincinnatti's division rival, the Browns. Not only do the Browns get better on the defensive line they do it at the expense of Cincinnatti. They also do it cheaper than Cincinnatti.
Leigh Bodden is a talented player, for sure. But the Lions basically just took him over a first round draft pick, the 9th overall draft pick. Anybody want to try and make a case that is a good decision. Sounds pretty Matt Millen to me.
Alright people it's March and to us sports fans that means March Madness, Spring Training, and NFL Free Agency. To a lot of people March means March of Dimes.
My sister is walking for the March of Dimes, click on her banner below, and head to the comments section where you'll find a woman who mentions that March of Dimes helped her family care for her when she was young. That's my Grandmother. Along with beating me for my abuse of the English language on this blog, she has beaten Polio, and a stroke.
SHE DRINKS YOUR MILKSHAKE
If you can donate great if not just check out her comment
Anthony Hall of Vikings War Cry is reporting that Vikings receiver Troy Williamson has come to terms on a trade with Jacksonville. Reportedly it will be a pick from the 2nd day of the draft.
Last week Williamson's agent was total he could shop around to see what other teams might be willing to give for his player. I am sure the Vikings like myself expected the answer to be "nothing, I wouldn't trade you anything for the biggest draft bust in recent memory."Apparently Jacksonville has a short memory, as in, "can't remember how bad Williamson was last season" short. At this point I am having the most difficulty with two simple choices; Am I more pissed off they are only getting a day 2 draft pick or am I more surprised they got anything at all.
While it is impressive that the Vikings aren't being forced to just release him, the disappointment still kills me. It isn't that he was 7th overall and now we are getting a 6th or 7th rouunder for him. It is the fact we chose him in the first place, a junior out of a smaller school like South Carolina just isn't the 7th pick overall. Especially in a year where the Vikings passed on Antrel Rolle, Carlos Rogers, Demarcus Ware, and Shawne Merriman. Those 4 came in the next 5 picks, forget the late round surprises that did well. These 4 were known talents, but the Vikings thought they were smarter than everyone else.
I am willing to let this go, I promise not to rant on for the next 20 years about it the way I do about the Herschell Walker deal. In return I want only one thing from the Vikings. Don't try and hit a home run in the draft this year; just take the best guy out there. When the Vikings took Randy Moss inspite of the issues that had cause him to drop that worked out. When they got Adrian Peterson because of his durability questions it seemed to work. So just take the best guy on the board, everytime you go for the surprise it seems as though us fans are the ones who are surprised, and not pleasently.
I know this isn't going to work. I mean I have lived in California for quite a while and I know more Raider fans than anything else. However, it is my breath so I will waste it. "Raider fan-You are not going to win the superbowl in 2008, you are not going to make the superbowl, You wont get to the playoffs, you might want to start rooting for .500."
The raiders have problems everywhere. It starts at the top, I posted earlier today about Bat shit crazy Al Davis trying to talk Lane Kiffin out of 4 million. So first off they need to get a head coach. Right now the rumor mill has ground out Dennis Green as Al Davis' choice for successor. Sounds great but doesn't Denny get a choice. I mean he hasn't sunk so low has he. I would love to hear a reason he would take this job because I can't think of one. So we'll see who ends up in that r'ole(r'ole:Initially a typo but now an abbreviated form of RAT HOLE).
On to bigger problems, the NFL carries a 52-man roster. Of that 52-man total the Raiders are facing 20 guys going into free agency, not to mention losing Warren Sapp to retirment. That's about 40% folks. I can't really decide if this is terrible becuase the new coach will have such little continuity to work with, or if it is great because who really wants a bunch of guys who went 4-12 back from last year.
A couple of the key Free agency guys are:
Nnamdi Asomugha: Easily a top 5 corner in the NFL. So don't worry about him being gone, all that really needs to be determined is can they work out a deal or is it "oakland Raider fans meet your new Franchise Tag player, Nnamdi Asomugha.
Justin Fargas: Sign him. He isn't gonna break records but he is reliable and seems relatively happy on the Raiders. There is a lot of talk about the Raiders taking McFadden if he is still on the board at thier pick. I think they will but I tihnk it will be a mistake if they do. I don't think McFadden is a bust. Quite the opposite actually I'll be shocked if he doesn't work. However there are a lot of positions where they could improve a lot more than they would at running back by taking McFadden.
Josh McCown: He turned out to be a surprisingly servicable quarterback. I mean he is no Derek Anderson(I never thought I'd be using that line), but he could be a good back-up to Russel
So if by some miracle Al Davis doesn't go for the big name. Which is something he has always done in the past. They will take Chris Long(DE-VA) if he has lasted that long or they may reach a little for Vernon Gholston(DE-OSU). I seriously doubt they would take Jake Long(OT-Mich) so soon after the Robert Gallery bust. Though knowing Al's mentality he may take him just to spite people.
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Reggie Bush (who apparently attended the Roger Clemens school of prompt reaction) finally spoke out about the book “Tarnished Heisman” in which Lloyd Lake, financier of now defunct sports marketing company New Era Sports and Entertainment, claims that he gave cash and gifts to both Bush and his parents.
Bush responded to the allegations claiming the other side is dodging him and his attorneys and they don’t actually want this to go to court and purely after money. Not surprisingly Bush gave a sports analogy for the situation saying, “ …It's like a trash talker on the field. If you're serious, meet me on the 50-yard line."
Interestingly enough the ESPN story where Bush is quoted was filed from Park City, Utah. Bush is their attending the Sundance film festival. Nice to know that a guy who is one, maybe two, seasons from being the biggest bust of all time has nothing better than critiquing films to do in the off-season.
