NFL Offseason Thread

[-Jrabbit]

The preseason news is beginning to roll in...

Jason Jones, of the Sacramento Bee, reports Oakland Raiders RB Dominic Rhodes has been suspended the first four games of the 2007 season for violation of the NFL's Substance Abuse policy. He can return to the active roster Oct. 1 and is allowed to practice during training camp while also taking part in preseason games. His suspension begins Aug. 31.

[snoopy369]

wow, 5 years, nice...

Donegeal, I think the rules for that vary by state, but i'm not 100% sure. Why would the subject be charged for an ER visit, though? I can't see that being legal. I suppose if you say it is, it is, in Wisconsin... but it seems horribly illegal to me, as the police should be required to gather the evidence (and pay for its gathering) if they want to charge you with something. Otherwise what if the blood draw comes back negative? Does the cop have to pay you back? If not, then i'd probably sue (not that i drink, not to mention d&d)...

[Lord Avalon]

Patriots safety Harrison reduces salary for 2007 season

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

Thirteen-year veteran strong safety Rodney Harrison, still regarded as the heart of the New England secondary but a defender whose productivity has diminished the past two seasons because of injuries, has restructured his contract.

In the reworked contract, first reported by the Boston Globe and then confirmed through NFL sources and league salary documents, Harrison reduced his base salary for 2007 from a scheduled $2.7 million to $2 million. The adjustment cuts Harrison's 2007 salary cap charge by $700,000, to $2.7 million.

Harrison can earn back an additional $200,000 through incentives. The 2008 portion of his contract, in which his base salary is $3 million, was not affected by the restructuring.

Since the Patriots still have about $8.4 million in available cap funds, and more than sufficient money to sign their draft choices, the restructuring was not necessary to carve out more spending room. Instead, the move should be considered a reflection that Harrison is in the twilight of a celebrated career.

While still a key member of the New England defense, and projected as a starter again this season, Harrison, 34, has appeared in only 13 games over the past two seasons. In 2005, he suffered a catastrophic left knee injury, tearing three of four ligaments, and played in just three contests. Last season, Harrison played in 10 games and missed time with a fractured scapula and a strained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

Long known as one of the league's fiercest hitters, and often fined by the NFL for his aggressive style, Harrison appeared to be healthy again during New England's early June minicamp. If he can avoid injuries in 2007, and play the entire schedule, it will mean a big lift for a Patriots' secondary unit that has been decimated each of the past three years.

A two-time Pro Bowl performer, Harrison signed with the Patriots as a free agent in 2003, after being released by San Diego, where he played the first nine seasons of his career.

He has appeared in 168 games and has 1,113 tackles, 32 interceptions, 73 passes defensed, 28½ sacks, 14 forced fumbles and six recoveries.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2927281

[Lord Avalon]

Grateful Freeney signs $72 million deal with Colts

By John Clayton
ESPN.com

Defensive end Dwight Freeney has spent his entire football career chasing and sacking quarterbacks. Now, he's going to be paid as the premier player at his position.

Freeney, the Indianapolis Colts' franchise player, signed a six-year, $72 million contract with the team Friday that includes a $30 million signing bonus. He becomes the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history.

"To have me paid among the top players in the league -- not just as a defensive players -- means a lot of me," said Freeney, who flew to Indianapolis on Thursday night in anticipation of accepting the deal. "[Colts general manager] Bill Polian is the one who drafted me. I was hand-picked by him. He was going to do the right thing for the organization."

Polian drafted Freeney in the first round in 2002 and watched him develop into one of the game's most disruptive defensive players. Freeney registered 56½ sacks during his first five seasons with the Colts and has forced 27 fumbles during his career.

Freeney and the Colts had until Monday to hammer out a long-term deal. Had that not happened, Freeney and the Colts would have been forced to settle for the one-year tender at $9.43 million, which would have left Freeney to decide whether or not to hold out.

Neither Polian nor Freeney wanted that to happen. Freeney expressed throughout the offseason that he wanted to remain a Colt. He attended most of the team's offeseason activities while Polian and Freeney's agent, Gary Wichard, worked on an agreement.

Freeney will receive $37.72 million over the first three years of the contract. In doing the deal, the Colts will save $3.68 million of salary-cap room that they can use to keep other players whose contracts are expiring. The Colts had $3.4 million of cap room before reaching agreement with Freeney.

"This really shows a commitment," Freeney said. "I have to thank [Colts owner] Jim Irsay and Bill Polian. They have done most of their big deals with the offense prior to this. Now, they've gotten to the defense and the guys who can go out and make some big plays on defense."

Depending on the way insiders view contracts, Patriots defensive end Richard Seymour had been the league's highest-paid defensive player if you consider the new money in a three-year, $28 million contract he signed in 2006. The Patriots view that deal as a $7.5 million-a-year contract if you include Seymour's salary in 2006.

Freeney's contract takes the top defensive pay scale to the $12 million-a-year range.

"I feel great about this because no one usually gets paid for the impact they have on the team," Freeney said. "To have a contract that pays me among the top players in the league and not just for being a defensive player means a lot. Normally, tight ends get paid with other tight ends and offensive linemen get paid with other offensive linemen."

This deal will have a significant impact on other top pass-rushers who are in negotiations to re-sign with their teams. New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith, Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs are pass-rushers who were waiting to see how Freeney's negotiations turned out.

"It's great to see the Colts are paying a guy who stops a quarterback like a quarterback," Freeney said.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2935483

Ka-CHING!!

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Just imagine what he could get if he could play against the run.

[Lord Avalon]

Lions sign Redding to monster deal before franchise-player deadline

By John Clayton
ESPN.com

Last year, Rod Marinelli moved Cory Redding from defensive end to defensive tackle in the belief he could be one of the best defensive tackles in football.

On Monday, the Lions backed up that belief by making him the highest-paid defensive tackle in football. Redding, the team's franchise player in 2007, agreed to a seven-year, $49 million contract that included $16 million in guarantees, including $13 million in signing bonus and roster guarantees.

Redding will receive a little more than $20 million over the first three years of his contract.

Redding's agreement beat a 4 p.m. Monday deadline for franchise players. Had he not reached an agreement, Redding would have been forced to only accept a one-year deal with no chance of an extension until next season. Under those circumstances, Redding might have held out the entire training camp.

Now, he will be present for the start of camp and will work with Shaun Rogers in what Marinelli believes will be one of the more dominating interior defensive lines in football.

Redding's agent, Kennard McGuire, was unavailable for comment while he worked out the final paperwork to submit to the league before the deadline.

Initially, Redding wanted to hit the free-agent market and leave the team. Marinelli and the organization decided to franchise him and try to talk him into taking a long-term deal. Last Monday, both sides had a major breakthrough in negotiations when the Lions came within $400,000 a year of Redding's demands.

Talks slowed down last Friday and Saturday and the possibility of no long-term deal existed. On Monday morning, the Lions increased their offer and signed him for $7 million a year.

The Redding deal tops the five-year, $33.24 million contract given to Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams.

The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Redding was taken in the third round of the 2002 draft and started nine games as a defensive end as a rookie. In the past three years, he had 48 starts. Last year, he had career highs in tackles (47) and sacks (eight).

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2938519

[-Jrabbit]

The deadline is past. That means that Asante Samuel and Lance Briggs are now officially left a choice between playing for "franchise" money or holding out.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
The deadline is past. That means that Asante Samuel

Asante Samuel is out of his mind. He wants $30M in guaranteed money the first three years. I'm sure there's somebody who'll give it to him, there always is, but based on one year of gambling and picking off 10 passes when his other years he's gambled and been burned more often than not? Play under the franchise for a year, if you can do it again then you might prove yourself to be worth it...but not yet.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Vick's toast:

Falcons' Vick indicted by grand jury in dogfighting probe
ESPN.com news services

Michael Vick has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the dogfighting probe of his property in Virginia.

The Falcons quarterback was indicted for conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Richmond, Va. Three others -- Purnell Peace, Quanis Phillips and Tony Taylor -- also were indicted by the grand jury on the same charges.

The indictment states: "If convicted on the Travel Act portion of the conspiracy charge, each defendant faces a statutory maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and full restitution. If convicted on the animal fighting venture portion of the conspiracy charge, each defendant faces one year in prison, a $100,000 fine, or both. The indictment also includes a forfeiture allegation seeking recovery of any property constituting, or derived from, proceeds obtained directly or indirectly as a result of these offenses. "

According to court documents filed by federal authorities earlier this month, dog fights have been sponsored by "Bad Newz Kennels" at the property since at least 2002. For the events, participants and dogs traveled from South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, Texas and other states.

Members of the venture also knowingly transported, delivered and received dogs for animal fighting, the documents state.

Fifty-four pit bulls were recovered from the property during searches in April, along with a "rape stand," used to hold dogs in place for mating; an electric treadmill modified for dogs; and a bloodied piece of carpeting, the documents said.

The property was used as the "main staging area for housing and training the pit bulls involved in the dog fighting venture," according to the filings.

The documents said the fights usually occurred late at night or in the early morning and would last several hours. The winning dog would win from "hundreds up to thousands of dollars," and participants and spectators also would place bets on the fight.

Before fights, the participating dogs of the same sex would be weighed and bathed, according to the filings. Opposing dogs would be washed to remove any poison or narcotic placed on the dog's coat that could affect the other dog's performance. Sometimes participants would not feed a dog before the fight to "make it more hungry for the other dog," the documents said.

Fights would end when one dog died or with the surrender of the losing dog, which was sometimes put to death by drowning, strangulation, hanging, gun shot, electrocution or some other method, according to the documents. The property has an above-ground swimming pool, and investigators were seen looking into the pool Friday.

During a June search of the property, investigators uncovered the graves of seven pit bulls that were killed by members of "Bad Newz Kennels" following sessions to test whether dogs would be good fighters, the documents said.

Members of "Bad Newz Kennels" also sponsored and exhibited fights in other parts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey and other states, the filings said.

On June 7, federal law enforcement officials descended on the property with a search warrant. More than a dozen vehicles went to the home early that day and investigators searched inside before turning their attention to the area where officials found dozens of dogs in late April and evidence that suggested the home was involved in a dogfighting operation.

Surry County officials had secured a search warrant in late May based on an informant's information to look for as many as 30 dog carcasses buried on the property. The warrant never was executed because Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald G. Poindexter said he had issues with the way it was worded.

The results of that search have remained sealed.

At the time, Poindexter expressed surprise at why the federal government was involved.

"What is foreign to me is the federal government getting into a dogfighting case," Poindexter said. "I know it's been done, but what's driving this? Is it this boy's celebrity? Would they have done this if it wasn't Michael Vick?"

A day later, "They launched a separate, independent federal investigation," Poindexter said of the government, which has had a representative involved in the local probe all along.

A search warrant affidavit said some of the dogs were in individual kennels and about 30 were tethered with "heavy logging-type chains" buried in the ground. The chains allowed the dogs to get close to each other, but not to have contact, one of myriad findings on the property that suggested a dogfighting operation.

Vick initially said he had no idea the property might have been used in a criminal enterprise and blamed family members for taking advantage of his generosity. He also put the house up for sale and reportedly sold it quickly, although there is no record that the sale has closed. Vick has since declined to talk about the investigation.

ESPN reporter Kelly Naqi and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Lord Avalon]

"Bad Newz" indeed.

Miami released Culpepper.

[Donegeal]

I hear Atlanta needs a new QB.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Probably not until next year, knowing how the legal system moves... but it would be smart to pick up Culpepper right about now.

[-Jrabbit]

LOL even harder at the Schaub trade...

[reismark]

Yup, Vick and Atlanta are ****ed... considering the gravity of the alleged crimes and the public relations nightmare that they'll cause the NFL, I have no doubt that Goodell will suspend first and ask questions later.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
LOL even harder at the Schaub trade...

Frankly, I'd rather have Blalock (the 2nd round pick) and Anderson (probably wouldn't have been there at 10) over seeing Schaub get pounded into the ground this year. Rather have a rebuilding season because the Falcons drafted exceedingly well in the first two rounds this year.