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

[Imran Siddiqui]

Those Texas Tech players... bunch of prima-donnas

[Sava]

Mark my words fools. Chicago will win their division and defeat at least their first round playoff opponent (barring any catastrophic injury to Jay Cutler). By week 4 or 5, I'll know whether or not they will make it to the NFC conference finals.

[SlowwHand]

Crabtree needs to sign, prove himself in the NFL, then rape them for even bigger money.

[Lord Avalon]

Nah, let him hold out, be behind in learning the game, and play badly for a while. Maybe that'll humble him.

[-Jrabbit]

Once a diva, always a diva.

[SlowwHand]

A Texas Tech diva? I'm sure they'd be glad to hear it. They haven't had one since Donny Anderson.

[Lord Avalon]

He's not at Texas Tech anymore. Now he's holding out from the NFL. If the cleat fits...

[SlowwHand]

Thanks for pointing that out for me, smartass. Evidently the observation went right over your pointed ^ little head.

[Theben]

Mark my words fools. Chicago will win their division and defeat at least their first round playoff opponent (barring any catastrophic injury to Jay Cutler). By week 4 or 5, I'll know whether or not they will make it to the NFC conference finals.

Depends on the WR situation. I've noted one of Ron Turner's "tells" in his interviews. If he says, "I think", it means he has doubts:

Everyone seems to be criticizing your wide receivers. How would you characterize them as a group?

I think we have some good young players. I know everyone’s talking about them on the outside. I think I feel better about them than probably what most people do. It’s a good group. I think they do complement each other pretty well. They’re young and they’re going to continue to grow and continue to get better.

As opposed to:

What’s it like having a future Hall of Famer stepping in at left tackle in Orlando Pace?

It’s very nice. He’s a great guy and great player. It’s tremendous. He’s professional. He works hard. You wouldn’t know he’s a seven-time Pro Bowler and future Hall of Famer and all that. He just comes in every day to get better.

How do you intend to use Kevin Jones this season? Will he be more of a third-down and short-yardage back?

He’ll just be a guy to spell Matt in our base package. He’s had a great offseason. He’s in really good shape. He knows our system now a lot better and he’ll be a guy that can go in and spell Matt and he’s going to be productive for us. He’s going to have a pretty good role for us.

[ColdWizard]

Lions also suck at driving golf carts.

Lions' Bryant Johnson out after golf car accident
by Tom Kowalski
Saturday August 01, 2009, 6:09 PM

ALLEN PARK -- As he got undressed at his locker Saturday afternoon, Detroit Lions receiver Bryant Johnson showed the scars and still-healing wounds from a golf cart accident he was involved in this summer. The cuts and abrasions covered almost every part of his body.

Johnson, who didn't practice Saturday and could miss a couple weeks, was placed on the Active/Non-Football Injury list.

"Bryant, unfortunately, had a golf cart accident back in early July,'' Lions coach Jim Schwartz said. "It was something we were well aware of. We took a couple of trips down to Atlanta to see him.

"There are no orthopedic issues with it, a lot of superficial wounds, road rash and those kinds of things. We'll take our time ... with him.''

Johnson said: "In the community that I live in, everybody uses golf carts to get around. (The golf car) got out of control and it was on two wheels and it fell over. I was driving, and it fell over on my side. It slid about 10 yards. There was a hill, but it wasn't a steep hill.''

Many of the wounds still appear to be a long way from healing, and recovery could be a lengthy process. Still, Johnson said the initial accident wasn't that painful.

"It really didn't hurt until the first time I tried to take a shower,'' Johnson said.

[-Jrabbit]

And he looked so good driving it around the driving range...

[SlowwHand]

"It really didn't hurt until the first time I tried to take a shower,'' Johnson said.

Yeah, I bet that was a mother.

[Lord Avalon]

Manning agrees to six-year, $97 million deal with Giants

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Eli Manning has agreed to a new six-year, $97 million contract extension with the New York Giants that will make him the highest paid player in the NFL with an average salary of roughly $15.3 million.

A person close to the talks who asked not to be identified says Manning is guaranteed $35 million under the deal that will keep him with the Giants through the 2015 season. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was not signed and had not been announced.

There is a chance the deal could be signed Wednesday, but both sides wanted to review the contract, the person said.

Manning, who led the Giants to a Super Bowl upset of the New England Patriots in February 2008 and was named the MVP of the game, was in the final year of the contract he signed as the No. 1 overall pick in 2004. He will make $9.4 million under that deal this season.

Tom Condon, Manning's agent, was not immediately available for comment. The Giants had no immediate comment.

This deal will give Manning an average salary that is roughly $200,000 higher than the one earned by All-Pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha of the Oakland Raiders. He agreed to a three-year, $45.3 million contract this year.

The salary obviously also is higher than that earned by Manning's big brother, Peyton. The Indianapolis Colts quarterback earns an average of $14.17 million annually.

The two sides have been discussing a contract for months, but they worked out the last details in recent days.

While Manning's contract was to expire at the end of this season, there was little chance the Giants would lose him to free agency. They could have named him a franchise player and Manning has long said he wants to remain with the Giants.

Eli Manning took over as the Giants starter midway through his rookie season and he has led New York to the playoffs in each of the past four seasons.

Manning went to the Pro Bowl for the first time last season, completing 289 of 479 passes for 3,238 yards and 21 touchdowns. He also threw only 10 interceptions, 10 less than the previous season.

Manning has started the last 71 games for New York, the third longest streak among active quarterbacks at the end of last season. During that span he has also become the first Giants quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards and at least 20 touchdowns in four consecutive seasons.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/08/05/giants.manning.ap/index.html

Ka-ching!

[SlowwHand]

highest paid player in the NFL

Over-paid city.

[ColdWizard]

I like how he magically became good after the Superbowl and was considered crap most of the time before. But I agree with Sloww, overpaid.