NFL - Are You Ready For Some Football?! - The Offseason

[SlowwHand]

Only one thing is forever, and it isn't a football team.

[Grandpa Troll]

Only one thing is forever, and it isn't a football team.

Texas Straight Talk

[Zopperoni]

One other thing, do you see new England remaining a strong contender, or slowly imploding over time?

There's no sign of the Patriots imploding right now. They lost a backup QB and an aging LB.

Those can be replaced at lower prices than they were paying Cassel and Vrabel.

The whole league is on the verge of a potential shake-up if there's no extension on the CBA.

[snoopy369]

I wonder how many people are banking on that with their current moves... (No extension, or a new CBA that is totally different and much less restrictive cap-wise)

[The Emperor Fabulous]

Nevermind what I said earlier:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/02/28/chiefs.trade.for.cassel/index.html

The New England Patriots have traded quarterback Matt Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel to Kansas City for the Chiefs' second-round pick in the 2009 draft, SI.com has learned.

Vrabel in the mix and only a 2nd rounder (and no conditional) makes this a very nice move for the Chiefs as well.

That doesn't happen without Pioli in the mix.

[Lord Avalon]

Agent: 2 NFL players among Fla. missing boaters

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Detroit Lions defensive end Corey Smith and Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper were among four boaters missing Sunday off Florida's Gulf Coast, the Coast Guard and Smith's agent said.

Smith and Cooper were on a 21-foot vessel that left Clearwater Pass on Saturday morning for a fishing trip and did not return as expected, the Coast Guard said Sunday. Crews used a helicopter and a 47-foot motor-life boat to search a 750-square mile area west of Clearwater Pass on Sunday.

Smith owned the boat and he and Cooper had been on fishing trips before, said Ron Del Duca, Smith's agent. The pair had been teammates on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004.

Smith, 29, had 30 tackles, including three sacks, and an interception in 12 games last season for the winless Lions. Smith, who is 6-foot-2, 250 pounds, also played for the San Francisco 49ers and played college ball at North Carolina State.

Del Duca called Smith one of the "good guys" of the league and was planning to start visiting teams as a free agent this week. He said he has spoken with Smith's family and is also in touch with Coast Guard officials.

"They've assured me that they're deploying all available resources to look for these guys and get them back," he said.

Cooper, 26, has played sparingly in five seasons with the Buccaneers, Seahawks, Jaguars, Steelers and Raiders. Cooper, who is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, played college ball at Washington.

Rick Davis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tampa, said seas were about 2 to 4 feet Saturday morning and increased to 3 to 5 feet in the afternoon. Late Saturday night, a small craft advisory was issued, when winds were around 20 knots and seas were up to 7 feet or more. There were no thunderstorms in the area.

Davis said the water was "extremely rough and choppy" on Sunday afternoon.

Lions spokesman Bill Keenist said he had heard Smith was aboard a missing boat but hadn't been able to confirm it.

"We're aware of the media reports," Keenist said Sunday afternoon. "We're trying to find out what we can."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090301/ap_on_re_us/missing_boaters_nfl

Uh oh.

[Theben]

Yeah, I just read about that. It can't end well.

[Ming]

Still no news...

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Coast Guard says it has searched 16,000 square miles of water off Florida's Gulf Coast but there is still no sign of a fishing boat carrying two NFL players and two other men.

After a briefing with the Coast Guard, ESPN reporter Sal Paolantonio has the latest on Raiders LB Marquis Cooper and Lions free agent DE Corey Smith, two of the four men missing at sea.

The NFL players, Corey Smith and Marquis Cooper, left on a fishing trip early Saturday and were expected home by early evening. One of the men's relatives reported them missing Sunday, and the Coast Guard began the search.

Officials said Monday that high seas and strong winds had calmed some, but the conditions are still hampering the search.

[Imran Siddiqui]

This probably means bad news in the end

[Supr49er]

14' seas? I had no idea the seas in the Gulf could get that rough without a hurricane.
It does look bad, but here's hoping for the best.

[OzzyKP]

Further proof that God hates the Lions.

[snoopy369]

Strictly speaking he was a FA, but yes, God hates the Lions... hope he doesn't take out that hatred on the people involved here.

[-Jrabbit]

Search update:

The Coast Guard has reportedly found an overturned boat with a "person clinging to it" off the Gulf of Mexico.

The St. Petersburg Times reports the person holding is reportedly Nick Schuyler, who was fishing with Corey Smith, Marquis Cooper, and Will Bleakley late Saturday. Schulyer's father has confirmed he is alive and talking. There is no word on the other men that were on the boat. The search has been going on for over 24 hours.

Source: Bay News 9

[-Jrabbit]

Follow-up:

Former USF football player Nick Schuyler said after he was rescued off the Gulf of Mexico Monday that the boat he, Marquis Cooper, Corey Smith, and Will Bleakley were fishing on was anchored before the storm hit.
Schuyler confirmed that he's "all right." The search continues for the others. The torrential weather has subsided some, but waves are still 6-8 feet high. Normal wave height is 2-3 feet. Cooper and Smith are experienced boaters and deep-sea fishermen, which has to be working in their favor.
Source: Detroit Free Press

[Lord Avalon]

Further proof that God hates the Lions.

And yet the Texans signed Dan Orlovsky for 3 yrs, $9.1M ($2.4M signing bonus). Peter King was surprised anyone wanted him at all.