Time once again to look outside our little red bubble here in AZ and see what else is happening in the NFL. With teams hard at work in training camps across the country, some teams are already hurting, literally. Here we go:
1. Brown and Johnson both sign 6 year deals, only Russell is left from top 10.
After seven and eight day holdouts, respectively, both the top picks for Arizona Cardinals and the Detroit Lions signed six year deals on Thursday. This leaves only QB Jamarcus Russell as the lone holdout from the top 10 of the 2007 draft. Reports on the progress of a deal from Raider-land are not very encouraging, especially after Oakland signed free agent Daunte Culpepper to a one year deal to compete for the starting QB job. Based off of the deals that Johnson and Brown recently signed, each topping $60 million, Russell’s agents are likely demanding something in the area of $70 million with a possible $29 million guaranteed.
Now we know Al Davis, which means we have no idea what he will feel like doing from one day to the next. It will be interesting to see how quickly Daunte picks up the offense and if he can be as effective as he has been during his early days in Minnesota. Russell is the future of that franchise, but he’s not NFL ready and needs to be in camp to learn the pro game. We’ll see where this goes, but right now there seems to be no real way for the Oakland Raiders to avoid another dismal season.
2. When the pads go on……players get carted off
Football is a contact sport, that’s what we love about it. Fans swarm into training camps to watch the players GO LIVE and lay a hat on each other. But not when it involves your top players getting taken off of the field. Fans in Minnesota, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and New England are just a little bit concerned that some of the biggest names on their rosters have already suffered some injuries during just the first week of camp.
Brady’s savior, Randy Moss, has already missed two days of camp due to an “upper leg injury” while Steelers RB Willie Parker will miss this weekend’s preseason contest against New Orleans due to soreness in his knees. 49ers RB Frank Gore is expected to miss the first 3 preseason games with a broken hand (let’s hope for the Cards’ sake that it weakens his grip on the ball and makes him more fumble happy). But by far, the worst this week has to be the Minnesota Vikings. Both RB Chester Taylor and rookie RB Adrian Peterson, their only real offensive weapons, had their practice time cut short by injury. While both players are expected back on the field soon you have to wonder, is this going to be the beginning of injury problems for Peterson?
3. Bucs cut DE Rice, Strahan thinks about retirement
The two leaders in sacks among active players, DEs Simeon Rice and Michael Strahan, have had an interesting week. Strahan did not report to NY Giants training camp this week, and according to his agent, is mulling over retirement. I think that Strahan just sees the writing on the walls: NO Tiki Barber = NO chance at the playoffs. So Strahan, already a good bet for Canton, OH (at least the second time around), probably figures why go on in a losing system when he’s at the end of his career anyway. If he does retire, I say good for him. Every player should go out on their own terms. Rice, however, is a different story. The former pro bowler was released by the Tampa Bay Bucs just prior to the start of camp, choosing to go with their rookie draft pick Gaines Adams as their featured pass rusher. Rice is busy shopping himself around to teams trying to find a place to land and is currently meeting with the Tennessee Titans. And speaking of the Titans……..
4. VY takes a swing at a teammate in practice……..AWESOME!!!
Apparently Vince Young does not fear the Madden Curse and is okay about hurling punches with his throwing hand at his teammates head when said teammate is wearing a helmet. Once again……AWESOME!!! Now the story goes like this: during passing drills, receivers were being defended by the DBs and the DBs were supposed to make contact with the receivers, but not lay them out. Well, Titan’s safety Donnie Nickey decided to step it up a notch and cold-cock receiver Joel Filani on his route; the next play Nickey clothes-lined receiver Courtney Roby and took him to the ground. Young saw this and became a little agitated, then promptly ran over to Nickey and punched him in the head. Luckily for VY and Titans coach Jeff Fisher, the punch glanced off of Nickey’s helmet. Now this is what camp is about: team unity, love of the game, and all that stuff. AWESOME!!!
5. Bill Walsh passed away after a tough fight with Leukemia
I wrote a post on this a few days ago, but it’s worth mentioning again because Walsh is a man worth remembering. Bill Walsh – “the Genius”, was 75 years old.
Additional Notes:
The first preseason game is this weekend – the Hall of Fame game, Pittsburgh vs. New Orleans, 8 PM ET on the NFL network.
And that’s everything non-Cardinals related that I really think you should care about this week.
Mike Duggan
AZCardsfan4life