For those of you bored with the Super Bowl already, and it's still one week away, here's a thread for the rest of us.

Will the Raiders ever name a head coach?

Will Brett Favre finally retire and open a chain of bakeries which specialize in turnovers?

Who will dare sign T.O.?

Big thing i've been seeing is that the vikes plan to dump The Pepper.....

AZ anyone?

My guess is the Ravens

Raven couldnt sniff that trade.

A Raider reunion with Moss perhaps? Give up their first found pick this year? If I'm the Vikes, I take that deal. And the Raiders might be up for it given that Moss and Culpepper had their best years together. Dante probably won't be ready until midseason, but it could pay off for 2007. And I think the Raiders pick 4th so the Vikes could have a shot at Leinart or Cutler for a backup QB to study under Johnson for a season or two. I could live with that deal.

In a gusty move Al Davis will hire Mike Tice and trade for Dante Culpepper to join Randy Ross in reuniting the Vikings west trimumverate. Shortly afterwards the team reenacts the Lake Minnetonka boat cruise in San Francisco bay with a bevy of circuit bois.

Media darling Brett Favre will announce his retirement moments before the Superbowl. He then comes out of retirement when Packers training camp starts. He finally re-retires after a career ending injury occurs during the filming of a sequel to "There's Something About Mary"

Terrell Owens is all but signed up to go to Denver. But his past comes back to haunt him, Drew Rosenwhore screws up the the paperwork and somehow he ends up being snatched by his old team the 49ers.

[ January 30, 2006, 08:39 PM: Message edited by: phillyrunner ]

Brett Favre is turning out to be the Biggest Drama Queen in sports. Yes, we know the spotlight is fading on your career honey, but this year-in, year-out drama about your retirement is getting old.

Rumor has it Al Michaels will be released from his contract with ESPN for 2006 and beyond, and that he'll instead join current broadcast partner John Madden on Sunday nights at NBC.

It's rumored ESPN will instead go with a trio of Mike Tirico on play-by-play, and Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser providing the color commentary.

Why would this occur? I assumed Michaels stayed with MNF in part because he still does other work for ABC (like the NBA) -- if he were to go and work on football for NBC, would he be off of ABC/ESPN completely?

It's true Joe.

Here's some other news yet to be announced: James Brown is leaving FOX and will go to CBS, anchoring their studio show. That pushes Gumbel to the booth, which will sadly push the classy Enberg out. Hopefully he gets another gig because he's still better than half the guys out there.

I didn't say it wasn't. I asked why.

Some other recent notable moves:

Jets have released Ty Law. They also cut Jason Fabini and Jay Fiedler among others and RB Curtis Martin will restructure his contract.

Ravens will not franchise Jamal Lewis so he will become a free agent.

Reggie Wayne signs a 6 year deal with the Colts which probably means Edgerrin James will probably become a free agent. It also means 6 more years of potentially being blamed by Peyton Manning for a future playoff loss. "Our receivers really let us down today."

Nate Clements has been handed the franchise player designation by the Bills.

I was reading this article about free agency -- it'll be quite interesting if the NFL and players' union don't work out a new deal by the end of the week when teams can begin signing players. The salary cap for 2006 will rise much less without a new deal, teams won't be allowed to prorate signing bonuses over more than 4 years, all incentives in existing contracts will count against the 2006 cap. All of this would also affect contracts for the new draftees.

What it could mean is that players will have a harder time getting big money, and some teams will have to dump players to make cap room. Teams who are in good cap shape may have more talent to choose from. Other teams will be stuck...

Of course, if there's no new deal that supersedes it, there will be no cap at all in 2007 and the players' union says if there's no cap in 2007 there will never be one again. I wonder if that would lead to an NHL-style lockout.

I'm still trying to figure out the Joey Harrington situation.It sounds like the new regime has a lot of confidence in him which could be good....or not. :confused:

The Broncos released 1000 yard rusher Mike Anderson as well as TE Jeb Putzier.

With NO CBA in place by the FA date, the skins will soon be known as the official DEAD skins... as in too much dead space on da cap.

They also released a third starter, DE Trevor Pryce.

The Panthers released running backs Stephen Davis and Rod "He Hate Me" Smart and DT Brentson Buckner. Other teams have made some cuts as well. They're saying tomorrow will be "Bloody Thursday" as teams have to cut down.

Welcome to Black Thursday!

Such a shame for some of these teams who can't manage the cap....

Good Job Danny Boi!

From today's Phila. Daily News:

Everyone should just grab a beer tonight and watch the destruction of Danny Boi.

Couldnt happen to a better guy!

To top it off, they only have a handful of draft picks!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The NFL has extended the free-agency deadline by three days. This could be a sign that there may be an extension of the CBA at hand, or it may just give teams more time to try and restructure deals.

Wonder if any of this will void for some the people who were cut?

I thought about that. But if they were to agree on a new CBA by Monday (which would result in a higher 2006 cap) I would think that some of the released players could get even higher salaries than they would've made had they not been released, so they wouldn't want the cuts voided.

Edit to add: Chris Mortensen on ESPN says anyone who was cut before today is still cut, but any cuts today are on hold. The teams now have until 6 pm Sunday to be under the cap.

[ March 02, 2006, 03:04 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Well, Mark Brunell, Clinton Portis, Shawn Springs, Marcus Washington, Jon Jansen and Randy Thomas have all restructured their contracts. Is that the "destruction of Danny Boi" you meant?

And, we all know, you'd grab a beer to celebrate the sun rising in the East and setting in the West.

[ March 02, 2006, 06:14 PM: Message edited by: PCC ]

If this CBA does not get ironed out those teams over the cap will get wacked regardless of so called restructuring. Eventually you gotta pay the piper whether this year or future years, unless restructuring means an overall salary cut for those high paid players.

[ March 02, 2006, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: phillyrunner ]

Actually, one of three things will happen. The CBA will be settled so the cap will increase to, I believe, $105 million or the CBA won't be settled and 2007 will be an uncapped year and 2008 will be a lockout, so he won't pay anything at that point.

And the Redskins' restructures are only valid if the CBA isn't agreed to by Sunday, the current deadline.

How many contracts has DannyBoi had to change just to get under the cap again this year?

You can only push the money back so far...

Makes these guys uncuttable because of the huge cap hits of moving the money.

They've all restructured and they're still OVER the 2005 cap number and roughly positioned at/over the potential/proposed 2006 cap number as we speak.

So, if the CBA is extended and the cap is at your $105 million, which is where the Redskins are roughly positioned now, they still must clear room to make offers to their restricted free agents - starting offensive guard Derrick Dockery, backup cornerback Ade Jimoh and backup linebacker Chris Clemons - or risk losing them and receiving no compensation. The Redskins also have several unrestricted free agents they would like to re-sign: safety Ryan Clark, defensive lineman Demetric Evans and tight end Robert Royal. Re-signing these players on their wishlist is impossible.

In your other scenario, with no CBA settlement, and 2007 being an uncapped year, you fail to address what that means for 2006 - The salary cap remains at the 2005 figure. This would translate the release of multiple players.

PCC, you might want to try to start painting a realistic picture, instead of a myopic one.

Again, the restructures are only good if the CBA isn't agreed to. And if the CBA isn't agreed to, 2007 and beyond are uncapped, so pushing money back becomes a non-issue.

I"m not sure where PCC gets his information from? His mom? Maybe he just spends too much time on the official redskins site.

If you go to the uncapped year, salaries are subject to the 30% rule. Any player under 6 years will not be unrestricted FA's.

Danny will be left to do what he is best at, signing aging players to big contracts. We see how that plan has worked out (with the current cap situation).

I'd say that the uncapped year will not happen and there will be a lockout next year. One year of uncapped wages would destroy the salary cap and no one wants to kill the golden goose.

The skins are doing nothing but pushing back even more money to get temselves into even more trouble in the coming years. Even with the new cap figures, they are over. They will rework more contracts, push more money back.

They will have a roster littered with Brunells (old aging players) who are not cuttable because of the cap hit. They will have 2-3 OL uncuttable, Springs, etc etc etc...

Plus, they wont be players in the FA market when you are just getting under the cap to stay alive.

Redskin "fans" are just too stupid to figure this out.

That's an assumption. It's probably true but it's still an assumption because we only know for certain what Mark Brunell's cap savings is, $1.8 million. We have no idea what the savings are for the other players.

What you're ignoring is there were a list of players who, based on their performance/play were going to be cut, in any event. Despite the fact that I love bald-headed men, Matt Bowen, for example, in the the final year of his contract, has been injured for much of the past two season, is not worth $2 million. He was going to be cut, regardless. Brandon Noble, has had repeated knee surgeries (and infections) and was going to retire. Tom Tupa was on IR last season, not worth $1 million. Walt Harris isn't worth what he's due to make, neither is John Hall.

This doesn't include Patrick Ramsey who almost certainly won't be on the roster this year. Nor does it include the \"easy\" cuts, ie players who stink, Taylor Jacobs, immediately, comes to mind.

Having to cut cuttable players isn't a problem, whether it be March, June or August.

And my view isn't \"myopic\". My view is one from someone who doesn't hate the Redskins or, more specifically, doesn't hate Dan Snyder.

Hatred of Dan Snyder in the national media has reached the point where \"reporters\" don't even try to hide it anymore.

This passage encapsulates every media report about the Redskins this offseason. "Reporters" have gleefully spoken/written about the Redskins' cap overage and how many players they'll have to cut.

Case in point, a couple of weeks ago, Pete Prisco at sportsline.com and Len Pasquarelli at espn.com wrote, on the same day, almost identical columns, quoting the same "source", making the same inane observations about the Redskins and taking their shots at Dan Snyder.

I'd never seen it before, two "independent" "journalists", doing the same hatchet job, with the same unknown source, reported on the same day. It was disgusting and so completely unprofessional.

You see, if you report from the position of not hating Dan Snyder, you see other options beyond the worst ones.

There is a huge difference in a team having to trip a player or two for cap reasons compared to pushing money back on all of your players for future years. That scheme only lasts so long.

The "experts" are pointing out that the credit card is about maxed.

A team like the dolphins have to make one cut. A team like the redskins will wind up having to cut all of the role players (who win the games).

So the difference is quite clear, and where Danny Bois problem comes into play.

The Raiders were in the same situation (they are hated) but all they have to do is cut a few big name high priced players to get under. In synders case, cutting on player causes such a cap hit they cant do it. This year just adds Brunell, Portis, Janson, Springs... to that long list.

Sooner or later that causes big trouble.

In the absence of a "free market" system in the NFL because of the monopoly they and all other major sports enjoy, I guess the salary cap is an artificial "market" price for the NFL market.

With that said, I would look at the deferred comp issues and all of that as long-term debt which really only factors into a debt-to-equity ratio. Then, current salaries would be more of a short-term debt/liability issue that goes into to all of those nice quick ratios that the banks and accounting people love to look at.

So, now, let's say the bank comes in and says that the debt to equity ratio is to high and you have to get it down. So, what do you do, you sell some assets and pay down some debt. Unfortunately for these players, the artificial "free market" just hit in the ass because they are being paid too much. They need to let the "free market" correct itself rather than do some Republicanesque deficit spending.

It's not that simple. If there is no CBA, money that teams have already slated to defer to 2007 would have to be charged againt the 2006 salary cap.

The Free agent pool in the uncapped year is going to be smaller because you have to have 6 years vested in the NFL. Danny boi will just be throwing away money like he usually does. It would not be until 3 years down the road that he would enjoy those fruits.

He would need it also because he’ll have to purge the team this year to just get in compliance with the salary cap. Not to mention cutting more to sign the few draft picks he didn’t trade away on a QB who’s just going to hold a clip board while he invests even more money into an aging QB.

Let’s not kid ourselves this will never happen in the NFL. This whole thing is coming down to teams like AZ, Jax, and such who do nothing to make money. Then think that teams who actually spend money to make money should hand over the pot. I see no reason why Danny Boi should have to share one penny of the local revenue with an owner like Bidwell who does nothing to improve his team and make people want to come watch his team.

Bidwell has the WORST pre game tailgating. He does not invest to get people to go.

That is the only thing holding back this deal right now.

What is more amazing is that writers don’t hate danny boi’s team. They point out the obvious of how he poorly managed the team. How he keeps moving his errors further into the future. Teams that manage the cap do so via both cutting players and restructuring deals. They also do so by having market level deals that are not cap busters and are spread out evenly. Something Danny could have learned a few years ago.

Again, the Redskins restructures only come to reality if there is no CBA agreement. If there is a CBA agreement, the salary cap this year will increase to between $105 million and $110 million and will be more than that for the following years. Also, any contract renegotiations can be spread over the life of the agreement, seven years if it's like the current CBA agreement. A fact that Dan Snyder, with the highest revenue team in the league, will use to his benefit. Don't hate player, hate the game.

[ March 03, 2006, 04:19 PM: Message edited by: PCC ]

You dont spread bonuses over the life of the CBA, you spread them over the life of the contract of the player.

Do you even have a clue of what you try to write?

The new deal will put the cap at 105, no way it jumps to 110 million.

[ March 03, 2006, 04:28 PM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]

Re-read my post. As it stands now, spreading money throughout the length of the contract is constricted by the CBA agreement. The CBA is the limiting factor, not the contract length. If there is a agreement, the CBA won't the limiting factor so you can extend bonus throughout the length of the contract.

Actually, if the new CBA agreement is like the current agreement then 2007 - 2013 will be the length of the CBA. Money can be spread over the life of the contract or 7 years (whichever is shorter) through, I believe, 2010. After that point the maximum "spread" reduces by a year a until a new CBA agreement.

If there is no CBA agreement, all of these other issues are moot. The union will decertify and there's likely to be a lockout after the 2007. If that's the case, 2008 and beyond is a complete unknown.

Assuming that there is no lockout, and if Gene Upshaw holds to his position that there will be no salary cap if this current cap is allowed to lapse, there won't be a salary cap, either. With no salary cap, Dan Snyder can spend and/or waste any money he wants. The Redskins could have a $250 million dollar payroll if Snyder wishes it.

For the list of players who've agreed to restructure their contracts, the details haven't been released because they won't come into effect until the deadline for a new CBA agreement passes. How the 30% rule or any of the other obstacles the NFL wants to put in front of Dan Snyder will affect the restructures or be affected by the restructures is unknown.

How about, let's wait until the deadline passes and the restructures are made official? The media will surely report on it.

On a totally different subject, can you tell me what is wrong with the following sentance:

"The Detroit Lions have addressed their need for depth and experience at quarterback by reaching a contract agreement with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers starter Shaun King, who did not play in the NFL in 2005."


So, they want EXPERIENCE so they sign a guy who DIDN'T EVEN PLAY LAST YEAR!

WTF! Is Matt Millen high? Seriously, does he go down a K-Hole at 9am when he gets to office?

Ugh ugh ugh! I'm so sick of this freaking paper tiger team taunting me with their good WRs and having no one who can get them the ball!

Of course, their o-line is abysmal and I think their best guy is a free agent this year.

I hope King is only coming in as a backup. He has only started 3 games 5 years. All three of the Detroit QBs are going to quarterback school so I guess who's to say who is #1 yet.

"The signing of Shaun King gives the Lions a trio of quarterbacks set to begin workouts. In the not-so-distant future, Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz will take Joey Harrington, Dan Orlovsky, and now King, through a “quarterback school.”

Oh well, and here I thought Detroit had only one "paper tiger" team not two.

The new salary cap deadline is 11:30 pm ET after the talks broke off again. Less than two hours to go...

Update: they extended the deadline another 72 hours. They seem to be desperate to get an agreement, but not desperate enough to compromise. How long can this go on? It almost seems like both sides think that if they start this free-agency period without a new CBA, and there are tons of cuts due to the lower salary cap, it'll become all-out war -- meaning no agreement, no salary cap for 2007 and a shutdown in 2008.

[ March 05, 2006, 08:41 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

That's funny. Well look at the bright side...

King's a nice guy. wink

[ March 07, 2006, 05:27 PM: Message edited by: Cadillac ]

Well, look what "single by choice" poster made an appearance for the first time since his little team didn't make the Super Bowl. Does your team make you "laugh in the morning?"

Any take on what Tampa may do in Free Agency? Yep, didn't think so.

The deal is done -- a six-year extension of the CBA. ESPN.com says there are no further details on the agreement, including whether it includes expanded revenue sharing; and that the vote was 30-2, with Buffalo and Cincinnati, two low-revenue teams, voting against it.

Finally Let the signings begin!

The "Bottom Line" crawl on ESPN said the free-agent signing period begins Friday.

Players who have been already released don't have to wait, though; and that same crawl said the Eagles signed Shawn Barber to a one-year deal.

Redskins Ready, Eager to Address Needs
By Jason La Canfora
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 9, 2006; E01

With the NFL's new labor agreement in place, the Washington Redskins are prepared to make a significant foray into free agency when the period to sign players is expected to open at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6030802586.html

Now we can talk restructures.

Daunte Culpepper isn't thoen only one who wants out of his current team.

Javon Walker wants out of Green Bay.