NFL 2008

[DMN in the House]

I'm not saying they're a bad team, they aren't. I'm torn on wether they're average, or slightly above average, with the difference being made by how their running game is going. They simply get an inflated record because that division is horrible, so people overrate them. If they were in a better division, they'd probably be an 8-8/9-7 team.

[EddieRuckus]

I never got the whole overrated feeling, at least from where I live. Usually it's the other way around, but yeah, I can see how they could be overrated. I also know you're not saying they're a bad team, no worries, and I agree with you about the assessment. Hopefully with Ruskell we can keep building and building to a point where we actually are a great team. As long as he doesn't do what he did with Hutchinson.

[Meacon Keaton]

Trent Green signs with the Rams.

Warrick Dunn signs with the Buccaneers.

If it weren't for Larry Fitz just re-signing with the Cardinals, I would have thought we've been transported back to 1999.

[alldaws1]

Keith Davis, Dallas' back-up safety & special teams captain, has agreed to terms with Miami. I'd have liked for us to keep him, but he wants a chance to start at safety and while Roy Williams isn't the greatest safety ever, there's just no way Davis is starting ahead of him.

[livid]

Apparently Bryant Johnson has signed a one year deal with the San Francisco 49ers.

To be honest, I didn't see this coming since there was no talk of them even being interested in him. With this signing, though, it's pretty evident that we're not going WR in the first few rounds, if at all, during the draft. Still, a solid pickup, IMO.

[Cactus Drags]

Eh, thank God, there were rumours arife about the Bears going after him.

[livid]

...and you're happy they didn't?

I mean, yeah he's not proven as a number one but given who the Bears have at WR...I'd be looking for someone who can fill Berrian's shoes, even if it has to be multiple people.

[Trey]

While I would've liked them to pursue him, I don't think it'll be hard to fill Berrian's shoes. Berrian was a solid deep threat, but he dropped a lot of catchable balls (think of the receiver the Vikings had, Williamson, and you'll understand.) He also had plenty of routes that he just gave up on, at least one INT last year was because he stopped running.

I hate to under-estimate Berrian, but I would be more worried about replacing Muhammed as we have deep threats in Hester and Bradley.

[livid]

But you don't have anybody on your current roster that deserves to start at WR other than MAYBE Booker (who's getting up there in age and wasn't that quick to begin with). Other than that you have a CB-turned-WR in Hester and a 2nd round pick who's never really been used in Bradley.

I think Bradley could be effective but I still don't think Hester's ready to start WR which is what he'll have to do if they don't address the position. So unless the Bears plan on being in another rebuilding phase, I don't think they're doing enough to get players on offense for them to be successful this year.

And Berrian's drops were and never will be as bad as Williamson's.

Edited March 15, 2008 by UNKLE

[Trey]

In Bradley's rookie year, he was the guy getting playing time while Berrian sat on the bench and Bradley was impressive, he just hasn't been healthly/used since. I have tons of faith in Bradley's ability to come in and put up numbers that Berrian had (maybe not in YPC, but Berrian was always a home run hitter, Bradley is more likely in my opinion to get more catches, like a possession receiver) and help this offense. Hester will have another year under his belt, as will Olsen. And say what you want about Hester, but he has the ability to change the entire game if they can get him in space (they need to use him like the Patriots used Welker). If they can bring Davis back, I don't see us losing nearly as much in our WR corps as everyone suggests.

[livid]

Yeah, but I think they're completely under utilizing Hester. In the sense that I think he should be used like the Saints use Bush. I think that if they used him like that, by creating running plays for him, that his speed and agility would be utilized better.

[Cactus Drags]

...and you're happy they didn't?

I mean, yeah he's not proven as a number one but given who the Bears have at WR...I'd be looking for someone who can fill Berrian's shoes, even if it has to be multiple people.

[DMN in the House]

Rumor is the Raiders are going to make a big move. Currently, most of the rumors lean to either trading down in the draft with Dallas, or a move to accquire either DeAngelo Hall or Julius Peppers. I'd be happy with any of them, but above all Peppers, if they can swing it for a nice price, not a first rounder or something. A third and a fifth or something would be nice.

[livid]

Good luck with that. There's no way in hell that the Panthers part with Peppers for the same they let an oft-injured, aging DT like Jenkins; a first or MAYBE a second, but definitely more than what Rogers/Jenkins brought. I'd say that Hall would be more realistic, though I don't even know if they'll be able to get him what with the Patriots lacking in a starting CB and the Saints still looking to find one to compliment McKenzie (but they're a division rival of Atlanta so that may squash that).

And I can see the Raiders trading down if Jerry Jones really wants McFadden and wants to trade up. By trading up with the Raiders, he would all but guarantee that he would get him...unless someone were to pull the trigger at an earlier pick.

Edited March 15, 2008 by UNKLE

[DMN in the House]

No one's going to give up a first or a second for Peppers. You just don't see that these days in the NFL. A third at best. Remember, Randy Moss went for a 4th. RANDY FUCKING MOSS. 1st and 2nd round draft picks are too valuable.

I also don't see what the Patriots can offer for Hall that the Raiders can't, unless they're going to give up the 7th pick in the draft, which is unlikely. They don't have a lot of young talent to trade, so thats likely out of the question, and dosen't happen much in the NFL anyway. If he gets cut, thats a different story, but in a trade I don't know what the Patriots could give up that the Raiders wouldn't be willing to. He's not a need though, the Raiders have one fine CB, Nnamdi Asmougha(sp?), and the AFC West isn't exactly filled with high flying offenses.

Me, I see the most likely scenario being trading down, because, unless they get Chris Long, Glenn Dorsey, or Sedrick Ellis (which, they would get one of the three, most likely), there isn't anyone that really helps the Raiders at the 4 spot, and I don't think they want to pay that much. Its a win for them to move down and acquire more picks, because the team, while not stripped of talent, has more than one hole.

I'd also like to see them take a look at Kevin Jones, who got cut by the Lions, but with the depth the Raiders have at RB, Lamont Jordan, Justin Fargas, Dominic Rhodes, and the returning Michael Bush, I don't really see it. More likely, one of them gets cut/moved.

Edited March 15, 2008 by DMN

[livid]

No one's going to give up a first or a second for Peppers. You just don't see that these days in the NFL. A third at best. Remember, Randy Moss went for a 4th. RANDY FUCKING MOSS. 1st and 2nd round draft picks are too valuable.

[EddieRuckus]

To add to this discussion, when Deion Branch was still in New England and was a hold out(if I remember correctly), we had to trade away our 1st pick and either a 4th or 5th rounder for him. We might have just got him for a 1st pick, not too sure about the others. If a team can see that their player's market value is going down, then they'll obviously trade him for less. Randy Moss went for a fourth because he had two low-producing seasons, was getting older, and teams weren't sure if they wanted to take a chance. Obviously he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was worth more than a fourth round, it's just those two previous years really decreased his value.

It's the same with Alexander, he wouldn't go for anything higher than a 4th rounder as well, even though he was the league MVP and a solid back up until the 2006 season. He had a really bad season, due to injuries and Hutch leaving, and the next season was even worse. Add to the fact that he has a huge cap hit on whatever team he's on, and he would only get a 5th round if anyone was willing to trade for him which they're not. He's older, has been injured the past two seasons, and takes a lot of cap room.

[alldaws1]

Remember the first Randy Moss trade (that brought him to Oakland)? When he was in his prime? That's more the type of deal that would be land Peppers. And you don't see that these days because the players usually traded aren't on the level that Peppers is on.

It'd be different if he demanded a trade or that he's viewed as a cancer, then his value would drop. But when you have perhaps the best pure pass rusher in the league, you're not going to let him go for a 3rd round pick, especially with what the Giants did.

Difference being that Peppers isn't in his prime. He's coming off of a bad season and he's not the best pass rusher in the league anymore. DeMarcus Ware and Osi Umenyiora, to name just two, have surpassed him in my opinion. The Panthers would only get a 2nd round pick at the most for him at the moment. Now, of course, that doesn't make sense for the Panthers because they know the player Peppers can be so I don't see him going anywhere just yet. If he doesn't make a big improvement on his 2007 outing, though, then his stock will begin to fall even further and quite quickly too.

[DMN in the House]

People, things have changed since the first Randy Moss trade. The Seahawks were idiotic to trade as much as they did for Branch, as well. I'm not saying the Peppers deal is whats going on, or even likely, but thinking that they'll get a first rounder, or more, for him is highly illogical given the current way the NFL is. I could *maybe* see a second, especially from someone like Oakland, but he's not exactly a need, since he dosen't play DT.

[VerbalPuke]

The Atlanta Falcons have reached an agreement in principle with the Oakland Raiders to trade cornerback DeAngelo Hall for the Raiders' second-round pick in the 2008 draft, pending the Raiders finalizing a contract with Hall, according to a source close to the Falcons.

Hall is close to agreeing to a contract with the Raiders that will pay him just below what Asante Samuel signed with the Eagles, according to the source. Samuel signed a six-year deal worth a reported $57 million, with $20 million guaranteed.

Hall is a former first-rounder taken with the eighth pick in the 2004 draft.

There's that move. D'Angello Hall for a second round pick. What do you say DMN?

And in other Lions news, Kalimba Edwards and Kennoy Kennedy were also cut along with Kevin Jones. Good riddance I say, well except Jones. I'm not bothered by him being cut, but honestly, now everybody knows what we'll be doing in the draft. I'm really not following the Lions strategy here, this is going to be an absolute trainwreck this year.