oochymp

Link face time is always a good thing, at least the stalemate will move somewhere and maybe some details about the 'parameters' the two sides are disagreeing over will come out here's Johnson's tweet:http://twitter.com/#!/ChrisJohnson28/status/106070731791675392

not that I'm justifying their actions, but I think it'd be complete and utter bullshit for the league to suspend players for shit they did during the lockout, but Jake Scott (the Titans player rep to the NFLPA) has said that the players' association would appeal any suspension handed down based on actions during the lockout, so even if Goodell does suspend them, chances are the suspensions won't stick

sweet, thanks man

a quick google image search brought this photo album up from the Cards/Raiders preseason game which has three decent pics you could cut of Kolb: http://www.exposay.com/2011-nfl---arizona-cardinals-at-oakland-raiders-24-18---august-11-2011/v/49429/1/ this picture in particular I think has a lot of potential:

and there was a lot more to Jackson's case that isn't complicating Johnson's, for one Jackson was supposed to be an unrestricted free agent able to test the market and almost certainly get his big pay day, instead the labor dispute made him a RFA and let the Chargers give him a much lower tender, which got Jackson pissed off before negotiation started, then they cut that tender offer to under $600K when he didn't show up to camp, the Titans haven't done that (because he's under contract we don't have the mechanism to pull the exact same maneuver, but we can fine him $30K for each day he doesn't show up, which the Tennessean reports as a potential fine of $630K) so while Jackson would have gotten just under $600K if he had just shown up week 1, Johnson will be getting just over $1M if he shows up week 1

unfortunately, that's the best picture I can find, so if there's nothing you can do with that then I'll just go with the one you've already made, thanks

Well done, now I feel bad doing this to you but I actually really don't like the red white and blue wizard, so if you wouldn't mind (and if you can make it work) could you use the monument ball logo? http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=3g5wchibh2ltoh617fcpgmfio if that doesn't work (or if I've already given you too much work with these ) I'll just use the updated one you just made, thanks again for doing these

if someone could adjust mine to the new Wizards logo that'd be awesome, if you don't mind using the DC hand alternate that'd be even better: http://www.sportslog...hytyk3z420iaonz and if you want to take it one step further, flipping that and the WM logo (switching the order of those two) would be awesome, but not really necessary, updating the logo would be great

Link

the earlier the better, but I can deal with pretty much any time Sunday evening

after seeing Fitzgerald's deal (which averages $15 mil) I still think CJ will end up somewhere between $13 and $15 mil

two guys who I've been waiting on to breakout are Lavelle Hawkins and Jared Cook, and I think both players might do it this year, they've shown some great talent this preseason and I think they may both make their break into relevance this year, Cook has gotten talk each of the last two years, but this year I think there's a little more fuel behind it

While your points are true, it's still in the NFL's best interests to maintain the NCAA's good favor

the idea is to set the precedent that players can't run to the NFL to avoid an NCAA suspension, so they just transferred the NCAA suspension to the NFL

well, I certainly hope they do (for those too lazy to look it up, the Jaguars play the Titans week 1)

I'm gonna go all corners here: Overrated: Cortland Finnegan, I'm as guilty of this as anyone and I'll go ahead and admit it here, his play has dropped off substantially, hopefully they can bring him back to his pro bowl form of a few years ago, but he's started to shift from scrappy to sloppy play Underrated: Alterraun Verner, maybe it's just because he was a rookie last year, but he made some plays that were absolutely insane and never got any credit

Skip Clueless is the same guy who said Lance Armstrong shouldn't be considered one of the best athletes of all time because he could only play one sport, I rarely pay much attention to anything he says, but he is usually entertaining

well put, a few points you made are things I hadn't thought about, particularly the age of the franchise, also the fact that both QBs played their whole careers with the Dolphins, that's pretty big when you consider that it's not something you can say about Favre, Montana, Young, or Unitas, and Unitas considered himself a Baltimore QB more than a Colts' QB. You're right, even if they're not top 3 (which I think you've actually made a decent case for) they certainly have a spot in the discussion.

I just don't think of the Colts as really a triplet, usually that implies three guys that strike fear in their opponents and while blocking is a critical element of a RB's game it's not something that will strike fear in the opposing defense, as I said, Addai is a great back for that system because of what you pointed out (blocking and pass catching) but as far as bringing the group into the 'triplet' conversation Addai just doesn't do it for me, and maybe it's more of a judgement on the Colts' offensive balance (or lack thereof) but their running game in general just isn't as good as I feel it needs to be for this conversation, especially when you've got some amazing three headed monsters like the Eagles, Falcons, and Texans have right now

it's tough to talk about the Dolphins having a history of greatness at the QB position when they haven't even had a consistent starter since Marino, in the 11 years since Marino left the team has had 16 different QBs start a game, I know we're talking all time history here, but the recent history has to play in. To be fair, you could make a similar argument against San Fransisco, but if you throw YA Tittle on top of Montana and Young and the 49ers have a deep enough history at the QB position to forgive the failures of the last decade there

Addai keeps the Colts out of the conversation, don't get me wrong on this, Addai is great for that team, but his numbers don't give him enough of a standing to consider the group a top triplet

a lot of it has to do with the value of certain positions, there are a number of factors that make RBs more valuable than QBs in general, mainly two facets: you start two-three RBs compared to one QB and the quality of QBs behind the top tier is much better than the quality of RBs behind the top tier, but ultimately it comes down to who you want because when you pick first, neither of those players will be available to you for your next pick, if you would rather have the #1 QB on your team, go for Rodgers, if you'd rather have the #1 RB go for Peterson, or Johnson, or Foster, or whoever you think will be the best player. The key with the #1 pick is to get the guy you think makes the best cornerstone for your team, you can read all of the rankings you want but at the end of the draft the most important thing is that you be happy with the team you drafted.

I think the Titans should give him a formal offer (if that hasn't happened already, which seems to be the case) and tell him they'll negotiate from that once he starts showing up, I really don't see how it's helping anyone to not have him in camp, we've already seen what unfamiliarity can do in the botched snaps a few days ago, and with new QBs he needs to get the reps in. As for the specific demands, I have no problem making him the highest paid RB in the league, but he needs to understand that the way the NFL is played right now a RB will never be worth making the highest paid offensive player, 15 years ago that would make sense, but not now.

the traditional snake always works, but I would not be opposed to shifting to an auction set up, mix things up a bit. On the IDPs I will always lean away from that because some of the best defensive players don't put up much in the way of stats because offenses just avoid them, and it's impossible to measure that impact with traditional statistics. That said, if others want to go the IDP route I'm willing to give it a shot.