Sad day for me!!!

One of my favorite players TE Bubba Franks was waived today. I know he has fallen off lately. He’s been hurt, and on the sideline watching. But Bubba is and always will be one of my favorites. I hope he rekindles his fire somewhere.

A huge story out of Green Bay is the placement of the franchise tag on DT  Corey Williams. I was shocked by the move not because as a fan I didn’t want to see Williams remain a Packer, but because lately we haven’t been keeping guys when they start demanding the big bucks. It seems to be pretty clear to me now that GM Ted Thompson is being really selective when it comes to the resigning of players. Almost every contract he has worked since being with the organization, has been on extremely young talent. He will allow an older player to leave if he demands a long term contract, or gets too pricey.

When he first came I was taken back by his moves. But as I started to see our team get younger across the board, I started to appreciate what he was doing. He would trade picks during the draft for multiple later round picks, and I can remember being pretty pissed thinking there are guys on the board that can fill a hole. But he kept on trading, and kept on aquiring solid lesser known players which for the most part have have been very productive. Most of the players selected which are no longer on the team aren’t there there because of injuries, not because he outright blew the pick.

I used to enjoy trying to figure out who the Packers would pick up in the draft. I still look at the team, and try to figure out who I would pick up, but it’s just for fun now because I know when the Packers are on the clock we are going to take the best available player regardless of position, and finally that’s fine with me!!

Suggs and Clark get tagged.

The Baltimore Ravens have decided to put the franchise tag on OLB Terrell Suggs. Nothing odd about that, right? Well there’s something odd about it to ‘Sizzle’! He says he’s a DE, and wants DE franchise money. What’s the difference you say? How about a little over $800,000! I understand him trying to get that cash, but it’s going to be tough to pull it out. His jersey number is 55. Traditionally a LB number. He is listed as an Outside Linebacker on the teams roster. The last time I remember him being referred to as a DE was up to, and during the ‘03 draft, and even then it was Defensive End Terrell Suggs who is projected to be an Outside Linebacker for the Ravens. The base defense run at Baltimore is the 3-4, and he plays OLB in that scheme. Gonna be tough! Maybe he can pull the numbers on every snap, and hope they played him at DE more times than they played him at OLB. Good luck!!

No luck for the Colts in signing TE Dallas Clark, so he gets the tag as well. He will be the second TE tagged so far this year. I definitely can understand this one a lot more than the LJ Smith tagging. Clark is an integral part of the Colts offense, and in my humble opinion one of the top five at his position.

Muhammad let go.

After 12 seasons as a pro, including three with the Bears, Chicago has cut ties with WR Mushin Muhammad. I have always appreciated the tough play of Muhammad over the years. He may catch on with a team looking for a possession receiver. The Bears didn’t exercise the option to retain DT Darwin Walker making him a free agent as well. They did sign DE Alex Brown to a two year extension though. Which is good news for the Bears faithful.

Allen and Andrews tagged.

A few more players have been tagged recently. Jared Allen DE for the Chiefs, and Stacy Andrews OL for the Bengals. I can see Allen for sure. He has been a monster the past few seasons, but I was shocked by Andrews. He only has 17 starts under his belt. He isn’t even guaranteed to start in ‘08. We’ll see if this move pays dividends in the future.

Falcons cut seven!

Algae Crumpler, Byron Leftwich, and five others including DT Rod Coleman and OT Wayne Gandy have been cut by the Atlanta Falcons. I’m sure that Crumpler will get picked up pretty quickly (hopefully by the Packers). Leftwich will land somewhere too, I think he would be a good pickup for some team who needs a decent backup, that also has a staff that is capable coaching up QB’s. At this point I think Washington, Philly and Tampa would be excellent spots for Leftwich.

Marvin Lewis says nope.

NFL Network is reporting that Head Coach Marvin Lewis has said the Bengals will not trade WR Chad Johnson. I really don’t see Ocho holding out, or even sitting out to force a trade. The $8 million dollar cap hit would be a lot for the Bengals to swallow so if they are going to trade him it will probably not happen until after June 1. Maybe now the Skins will save the picks they would of used, and actually draft somebody for a change.

Not to many comings, but a few goings.

It seems that a couple of teams have made some cuts. The Carolina Panthers have cut LB Dan Morgan and G Mike Wahle. Morgan was plagued by injuries in 2007 while Wahle started all 16 games, and had another solid season. Both seem to be cap casualties, and will land somewhere I’m sure. I’d love to see Wahle land back in Green Bay where he started. The Miami Dolphins waived nine players. Most prominent of them being QB Trent Green and WR Marty Booker. Booker will probably end up somewhere looking for a decent possesion receiver, but I hope for his sake that Trent Green lands in booth somewhere.

Adrian Peterson caps off a great year!

Well the NFC did it again. They pulled out a victory over the “more dominant” AFC. The final score 42-30. There were a lot of outstanding performances in the game. T.O. had a great game. T.J. had a great game, but the newest great two letter athlete in the NFL took home MVP honors, A.P.! I being a Green Bay fan am not looking forward to seeing him twice next year. He will be very high if not #1 on a lot of fantasy boards next year for sure.

Snyder strikes again!!!

Well it seems that the ass backwards way Dan Snyder hired his staff has him grasping at straws now! Having already hired the Offensive Coordinator – Jim Zorn, promoting defensive line coach Greg Blache to Defensive Coordinator, Snyder made it tough to bring in a seasoned coach. No seasoned coach is going to come in, and not be able to hire his own staff. So whats the solution? Promote Jim Zorn the newly appointed O.C. to Head Coach. Is it a bad move? It’s way to early to tell. Was Tomlin a bad move when he was hired? How about McCarthy? Way to early to tell on them either, but both have started off extremely well. He has the background for sure. 11 years as a QB, 1 as an All-Pro. Most of his 11 years were at Seattle. He played one year with Green Bay, and one year with Tampa Bay. After his playing career he entered the coaching ranks on the college level, coaching for Boise State, Utah, and Minnesota. He coached in the NFL at Seattle and Detroit, as an offensive assistant early on and as a QB coach thereafter. Most recently he was at Seattle, where he was the QB coach since 2001. No Head Coach experience, but I for one am glad to have another fresh face in the ranks of the Head Coaches in the NFL. One thing is for sure, Zorn and Snyder will be under heavy scrutiny. Especially by those fickle Redskins fans!!!

‘Sounds’ like a good idea to me.

The NFL may entertain the idea of allowing one player on defense to have a radio receiver in their helmet like their offensive counterparts. This would prevent teams from being able to ’steal’ defensive signals. I think this is a perfect solution to the whole signal stealing issue. Not to mention the offense has the advantage of a few extra seconds of coach directions before each play, why shouldn’t the defense be afforded the same luxury.