NFL - Are You Ready For Some Football?! - 2010 Offseason

[Ben Kenobi]

That would be hilarious if LT goes to the Bears. I'd have to cheer for Sweet Baby Cutler.

[-Jrabbit]

If he looks at footage of the Bears 09 O-line, he won't want to come near the place.

[rah]

That's the joke making the rounds now. I wouldn't want anybody stupid enough to come here.

[-Jrabbit]

The is hope for Ben Kenobi's wet dream:

1. New Orleans did not tender Mike Bell, making him a free agent.

2. And the beat writer in Houston says the Texans have no interest in LT. Supposedly, he's a reliable source and not a team shill.

[Ben Kenobi]

Man, you'd think I actually knew something about the NFL?

[Lord Avalon]

1. New Orleans did not tender Mike Bell, making him a free agent.

Not just yet:

The deadline for tendering qualifying offers to restricted free agents is March 4.

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/02/new_orleans_saints_make_qualif.html

[Zopperoni]

Meh, they also might let Bell go and upgrade Hamilton to a more prominent role.

[SlowwHand]

What are the Chargers doing?

Chargers won't tender deal to RB Sproles (AP)

First LaDainian Tomlinson, and now Darren Sproles. The San Diego Chargers have decided not to tender a contract to Sproles, allowing the speedy running back to test the free agent market, a person with knowledge of the situation said Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team hasn't made an official announcement.

[Ben Kenobi]

They had 14 million tied up in RBs last season.

Sproles thinks he's worth 7.5 million a year. This was inevitable. They asked Tomlinson to take a cut, and then they ended up franchising Sproles, because he had unreasonable contract demands.

Basically they went to LT and Sproles and offered them both about 3.5 to 4 million. Neither took it. So now both are gone.

This also makes the option of LT returning that much more likely. Sproles is gone.

[SlowwHand]

They're both gone. Who else do the Chargers have at RB?

[Ben Kenobi]

They have Hester and they have Tolbert. Both who did ok in scrub time this year.

Frankly, if they are dumping LT and Sproles, I'd like to see them give Tolbert a start at HB with Hester at FB.

I'd like to see them draft beef, draft a NT, and RT/RG and rebuild the O and D lines who are the biggest problem with the run. I personally don't think there's anything wrong with LT and Sproles, and losing both will hurt the Chargers this season.

The other school of thought has them trying to draft an Addai, and leaving the OL and DL until the very end as AJ has done consistantly. This strategy has a couple risks.

One, the best I think they can hope for is one of the worst run games in the NFL next season. Addai is good, but he doesn't give the Colts anything to write home about in terms of yardage.

Two, it poses the question as to whether PR can get it done in the red zone. We've seen over and over again, that the Chargers have difficulty scoring TDs in the redzone without LT. Can PR do as well as Manning? Can they get a good enough NT to make the 3-4 work again against the run? Is their secondary good enough?

So many questions and holes. I'm personally going to be watching the LT sweepstakes, but it's entirely possible that Sproles could get picked up and that the draft does not go well for AJ. Then, assuming LT hasn't found a home by then I could see him going back for one more kick at the can to work with the kids. But we shall see.

Not only is there the turmoil in the backfield this offseason, plus the issues with the CBA, there is the stadium problem. This is the last year of the Chargers lease at Qualcomm. The city of San Diego has done dick all for the last 5 years and the day of reckoning is here. It's a serious question whether the Bolts leave, especially if their fan base starts to leave. LT is very popular, and I'm not certain that they will retain their fans this year without him.

[SlowwHand]

So they're blowing off the foreseeable future. That's what I thought. Poor Rivers.

[Ben Kenobi]

Everything was set up to win last year.

So, we shall see.

"O brave new world that has such people in it."

All I know is I'll be cheering for LT and whomever he plays for.

[-Jrabbit]

In that case, I really hope he goes to NE or Denver.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Denver would be AWESOME!