Footballguys Daily Email - Volume 9, Issue 21 (Wednesday, May 14th)
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Hi Folks,
Good Thursday to you. It's that fun time of year when the weather is starting to turn in lots of places and optimism is in the air as teams open minicamps. And players that performed well last year threaten to hold out if they don't get a new contract... The joys of May. Let's get to it. JINSIDE THIS ISSUE
1. STL - Rams To Relocate Training Camp To Concordia University (WI)2. NE - Spygate Not Over For Senator Specter
3. NE - Walsh On Belichick's 'Misinterpreting Rules'
4. CLE - Browns TE Winslow Wants New Contract
5. CIN - RB Johnson Bulks Up
6. ATL - QB Ryan Will Have Shot At Starting Job
7. DEF - NYG - Giants S Butler Signs One-Year Tender Offer
8. DEF - CHI - Bears MLB Urlacher Threatens Hold-Out Over Contract Dispute
9. DEF - JAC - Jaguars DE Spicer Skips Off-Season Program Over Contract Dispute
STL - Rams To Relocate Training Camp To Concordia University (WI)
Source: Bill Coats, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Rams announced that they will be moving their annual Training Camp activities to Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin, located 15 miles north of downtown Milwaukee.
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After several years at Rams Park, the team has decided it wants to get out of town for camp. I go back and forth on this. On one hand, it is easier to have the players focused in camp as they are in unfamiliar surroundings and don't have much to do except worry about football. When camp is at your home field, the facilities are likely better, but there are lots more distractions.
NE - Spygate Not Over For Senator Specter
Source: Joseph White, AP
Spygate isn't over. Not if the "incensed" Pittsburgh Steelers fan in Congress has anything to do with it.
Sen. Arlen Specter on Wednesday called for an independent investigation of the New England Patriots' taping of opposing coaches' signals, possibly similar to the high-profile Mitchell Report on performance enhancing drugs in baseball. "What is necessary is an objective investigation," Specter said at a news conference in the Capitol. "And this one has not been objective."[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
Roger Goodell had this all put to bed and swept under the rug but Senator Specter had other ideas. I do think it's pretty much over. But the league has to accept the fact that there are repercussions for handling the original tapes so secretively and destroying evidence before anyone could look at it. They couldn't have raised a red flag any higher and this still is amazing to me they'd blow that one so badly. The only reason they'd destroy evidence is if what was on there was so bad it would outweigh the outcry they had to know would come when they destroyed evidence. I hope it was worth it for them.
NE - Walsh On Belichick's 'Misinterpreting Rules'
Source: AP
In an HBO interview Andrea Kremer asked Matt Walsh about Bill Belichick's claim that he misinterpreted NFL rules.
"When I was doing it, I understood what we were doing to be wrong," Walsh said. "We went to great lengths to keep from being caught. Just saying that the rules were misinterpreted isn't enough of an apology or a reasoning for what was done. … Coach Belichick's explanation for having misinterpreted the rules, to me, that really didn't sound like taking responsibility for what we had done, especially considering the great lengths that we had gone through to hide what we were doing."[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
Most sports fans are grown ups. They can handle the truth. What they don't like is someone looking them in the eye and lying to them. That's what it feels like like when Belichick tried to say he misinterpreted the rules. Sounds like Walsh had a pretty good handle on the interpretation.
CLE - Browns TE Winslow Wants New Contract
Source: Tom Withers, AP
Browns TE Kellen Winslow, who underwent offseason knee surgery and his recovering in San Diego, has made it clear he wants the Browns to redo his contract.
Winslow missed most of his first two seasons in the league with injuries. He has three more years left on a contract the Browns restructured after he missed an entire year following a motorcycle accident. It's unclear if Winslow's absence is health related or foreshadowing a contract dispute. Coach Romeo Crennel didn't provide any insight into the reason for Winslow not being around. "When he gets here, we'll find out for sure exactly what that is," said Crennel. "He's not here and I haven't spoken with him, so when he gets here I'll be able to answer that question."[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
Another player that wants a new deal. Winslow is a little bit different as he is just now finally starting to produce after two years of frustration. The Browns may play hardball here.
Source: Mark Curnutte, Cincinnati Enquirer
Bengals RB Rudi Johnson put on 12 to 13 pounds of muscle mass in his chest and shoulders and said he weighs in the neighborhood of 225 pounds - his desired playing weight.
"Last year when I got hurt, it was definitely frustrating for me," said Johnson, who has worked with strength and conditioning coaches since the end of the 2007 season. "I wanted to come back stronger, more powerful than I've ever been."[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
For a physical guy like Johnson, some extra bulk will come in handy. Let's just see if he can stay healthy this year.
ATL - QB Ryan Will Have Shot At Starting Job
Source: Steve Wyche, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"We are not going to rule out anything in terms of who is going to start," head coach Mike Smith said. "We are not going to put a ceiling on any of our players, whether it's the quarterback, offensive tackle, linebacker. We are going to let them go out and compete.
"I will say this, the quarterback position is probably one of the more difficult positions to make the transition. But if anybody can do it, Matt is a guy that can."[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
I like how Smith is handling this. Ryan is the hot shot but clearly he is behind Joey Harrington and Chris Redman right now. But it's also clear that their isn't a ceiling on how quickly the rookie can move up. We'll see.
DEF - NYG - Giants S Butler Signs One-Year Tender Offer
Source: Ralph Vacchiano, New York Daily News
The New York Giants announced on Monday that restricted free agent safety James Butler signed his one-year, $1.47 million contract offer with the team.
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The Giants continue to try and shape their team by resigning the players they want as opposed to dipping into the free agent market for players from other teams.
DEF - CHI - Bears MLB Urlacher Threatens Hold-Out Over Contract Dispute
Source: ESPN
Chicago Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher said during an interview that he will likely skip the team's mandatory workouts from May 30 to June 1 if he and the team are unable to resolve his current unhappiness with his contract. "It's easy for people to criticize me for wanting [a new deal], and I understand that it's a contract and I signed it," Urlacher said. "But this is the NFL, and if I'd signed it and I'd played like [expletive], they'd have cut me or tried to get me to take less. In my mind, there's no difference. If they can 'break' a contract, I have a right to ask for more if I play well enough."
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I try to be a "stick to your word" kind of guy. But Urlacher is right here. These "contracts" are really pretty flimsy as the team has no problem telling the player they want to renegotiate if they see fit. If they're going to have that right, it's only fair that the player have the same right. Chicago isn't usually a team that falls all over itself to rework contracts though so watch this one closely. Just like with Chad Johnson, I think the chances of Urlacher being on the field eventually are 100%. But it could get testy between now and then.
DEF - JAC - Jaguars DE Spicer Skips Off-Season Program Over Contract Dispute
Source: Associated Press, NFL.com
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Paul Spicer skipped the first day of the team's off-season program on Tuesday in an apparent effort to hold out and secure a better contract with the team. Spicer's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, declined to comment on the situation.
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Pretty much same song, different verse as Brian Urlacher. He'll be in there so we're not worried about that. But it could be a little bumpy as they work it out.
That'll do it for today, Folks. Have a great Thursday and we'll see you tomorrow with the update.
J