2013-14 NFL Season Thread

[laughedatbytime]

Well, the schedule is out Thursday, so I guess it's time to start a thread for the new season.

 

Can't wait, this is a long few months, punctuated by the draft next week.

 

The HOF game this year is a battle of good vs evil. Dolphins vs Cowboys. Go Fins!

[treeduck]

There's a team in this league, they're called THE SAINTS!!

 

:madra: :madra: :madra: :madra: :madra: :hi:

[Babycat]

Any Bengals..? *looks hopeful*

 

 

Ps, thanks for the tag, LABT! :ebert:

[laughedatbytime]

Clay Matthews has resigned with the Packers, extension for 5 years and $66 million.

[Principled Man]

Clay Matthews has resigned with the Packers, extension for 5 years and $66 million.

 

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l4/solarhythm/applause.gif

 

:laughing guy: :laughing guy: :laughing guy:

[treeduck]

That's a lot of money for a long haired heavy metal fan!

[Principled Man]

That's a lot of money for a long haired heavy metal fan!

 

Yeah, but Matthews is a Who fan, and they are NOT metal......

[Queen of Megadon]

There's a team in this league, they're the NEW YORK GIANTS...they're not only the residents of the Superbowl hosting field, they are also playing in it.

[treeduck]

That's a lot of money for a long haired heavy metal fan!

 

Yeah, but Matthews is a Who fan, and they are NOT metal...... :chickendance:

 

Well he should cut his hair mod style then!

[treeduck]

There's a team in this league, they're the NEW YORK GIANTS...they're not only the residents of the Superbowl hosting field, they are also playing in it.

 

[barney_rebel]

Not very sportsmanlike

 

http://deadspin.com/we-now-whose-hotel-room-at-the-combine-was-covered-in-p-476342068

[treeduck]

On the Saints Report I just finished picking for the Eagles in the mock draft which started on 25th March, so it's been a long slog. There were a couple of trades and I may have drafted too many players in the end!

Round 1 – Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah

Round 2 – Robert Woods, WR, USC

Round 3 – Jamar Taylor, CB, Boise State

Round 3 – Travis Frederick, C/G, Wisconsin

Round 4 – Jordan Reed, TE, Florida

Round 4 – Shawn Williams, S, Georgia

Round 5 – Xavier Nixon, OT, Florida

Round 6 – Gerald Hodges, OLB, Penn State

Round 7 – Sean Renfree, QB, Duke

Round 7 – Onterio McCalebb, RB, Auburn

Round 7 – Cody Davis, FS, Texas Tech

Round 7 – Jordan Campbell, OLB/ILB, New Mexico Highlands

Round 7 – Ryan Spadola, WR, Lehigh

Edited April 20, 2013 by treeduck

[laughedatbytime]

Revis to Bucs now official.

 

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/9195939/new-york-jets-trade-darrelle-revis-tampa-bay-buccaneers-source

 

 

The New York Jets on Sunday traded Darrelle Revis to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 13th overall pick in Thursday night's draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2014 that could become a third-round pick, according to sources close to the Pro Bowl cornerback.

 

The Buccaneers' pass defense allowed an NFL-high 17 plays of 30 or more yards outside the painted numbers, 15 of which were thrown to wide receivers. Only the Giants allowed as many 30-plus yard plays to wide receivers last season. A look at Tampa Bay's defense on passes to wide receivers in 2012:

 

Category Number NFL Rank

Comp pct. 62.8 28th

Yds per att. 9.2 T-30th

Yds PG 203.7 Last

YAC PG 72.5 31st

-- ESPN Stats & Information

Next year's conditional fourth-round pick could become a third if Revis is on the Buccaneers' roster on the third day of the 2014 league year.

 

Revis signed a six-year, $96 million extension that includes no guaranteed money but makes him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history and one of the two highest-paid defensive players along with Mario Williams, per sources. The new contract replaces his former deal.

 

Revis will not be released before this season, meaning he is assured of making this season's base salary, but his contract includes none of the money that the NFL refers to as "guaranteed" money. Tampa Bay would be able to release Revis before any season without incurring any salary-cap charge.

 

The final obstacle to the deal was completed Sunday, when Revis flew on a private plane from New Jersey to Tampa, Fla., to undergo a physical that included a comprehensive checkup on his knee.

 

He passed it, making the trade official.

 

The three sides -- the Jets, the Buccaneers and Revis -- spent the weekend hammering out their respective agreements.

 

The Jets are now satisfied with the two picks they would receive from the Buccaneers, giving New York the ninth and 13th picks Thursday night.

 

Revis is happy with the new contract he will receive from the Buccaneers. Plus, with no state income tax in Florida, Revis now will pay less in state tax from the Buccaneers than the $538,200 he would have had he remained with the Jets on his $6 million salary in New Jersey this season.

 

The Darrelle Revis blockbuster trade has the potential to be a win-win deal for both the Buccaneers and Jets, Herm Edwards writes. Story

 

The Jets were not going to the playoffs this year, so the time was right to part with star cornerback Darrelle Revis, James Walker writes. Blog

 

The acquisition of Darrelle Revis makes the Buccaneers relevant on multiple fronts this season, Pat Yasinskas writes. Blog

 

And Tampa Bay is pleased to acquire the league's top cornerback to upgrade its pass defense and to match up against division rivals such as Drew Brees and Matt Ryan.

 

As if that wasn't enough drama, there's more ahead. In Week 1, the Buccaneers open against the Jets.

 

Also, in Week 9, in another scheduling quirk, Revis' Bucs play in Seattle at Richard Sherman's Seahawks. The two cornerbacks have traded verbal barbs and tweets this offseason.

 

Meanwhile, New York is positioning itself well for 2014, when the Jets are expected to receive four compensatory picks to go along with the Buccaneers' pick, meaning the Jets will have a bounty of selections to try to turn around their roster.

 

And they will do it with added salary-cap space, too. Revis will count $12 million against the Jets' cap this season but nothing in 2014, when New York will be primed with a great chance to upgrade its talent.

 

Revis is only six months removed from ACL surgery and was cleared to run without restriction only last Monday.

 

The Bucs, determined to improve their league-worst pass defense, will have added two impact players to their secondary in safety Dashon Goldson and Revis, widely regarded as the best corner in the league.

 

Jets officials had made it clear that Revis could be had for the right price, a surprising public stance that irked their best player, according to a source.

 

The latest developments followed years of contract demands and special requests by Revis and his agents.

 

The most recent dispute occurred when Revis, who had been rehabbing in Arizona, asked to be excused from the first two weeks of the offseason program. The Jets refused.

 

Revis, with a $1 million workout bonus tied to his participation in the voluntary workouts, showed up to satisfy the clause.

 

Revis was seeking about $16 million a year in a long-term deal, and Jets owner Woody Johnson told confidantes as far back as January he had no intention of doling out that much for a non-quarterback, sources said.

 

Johnson denied that, insisting it was "patently untrue" that he had no desire to extend Revis' contract.

 

Revis was entering the final year of his contract and was due to make $6 million -- $3 million in bonuses and $3 million in base salary. He triggered a $1 million roster bonus March 16, but the Bucs would assume that payment as well as a $1 million workout bonus and $1 million reporting bonus.

 

The trade speculation started in late January, when Johnson, in private discussions, expressed little confidence in the team's ability to re-sign Revis, according to sources. One league source said Johnson was determined to deal Revis.

 

"I gathered from Woody that, in his mind, [Revis] was gone," the source said.

 

Revis said he was "speechless" upon hearing the trade rumors, later indicating he felt insulted that general manager John Idzik didn't contact him directly. Idzik reached out, but at no point, publicly or privately, did he say Revis wouldn't be traded.

 

For two months, the Jets mixed damage control with posturing, claiming their only goal was make sure Revis returned healthy from his injury. Meanwhile, they continued to shop him.

 

The Bucs made sense from the outset. They had a glaring need at cornerback, they began free agency with more than $30 million in cap room and their special teams coach, Dave Wannstedt, was Revis' head coach at Pittsburgh.

 

This would be another splashy addition for the Bucs, who have demonstrated over the last 12 months a willingness to spend big money. They signed wide receiver Vincent Jackson and guard Carl Nicks last year, but finished a disappointing 7-9.

 

The Revis trade conjured up memories of another blockbuster between the two teams, in 2000, when the Jets traded disgruntled wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson for two first-round draft picks.

 

As a rookie, he missed part of the preseason because of a contract dispute. In 2010, he staged a 36-day holdout that turned ugly, with both sides exchanging jabs in the media. It became a national story as the main plot that summer in the HBO reality show "Hard Knocks," which covered the Jets' training camp.

 

The two sides settled the dispute with what the Revis camp termed a "Band-Aid" contract. He had three years remaining on his first contract, and that was replaced with a four-year, $46 million deal that included $32 million in guarantees.

 

At the time, then-GM Mike Tannenbaum called it an "intermediate step" toward a long-term deal that would enable Revis to finish his career with the Jets. Two years into the deal, the Revis camp started dropping hints that he was mulling another holdout.

 

That never happened, but the two sides continued on a collision course.

 

Unable to use the franchise tag, per a clause in Revis' contract, the Jets couldn't let him play out his contract because he would've become an unrestricted free agent. So they had to make a decision: Trade him or re-sign him.

[treeduck]

I don't like the trade for either team.

[treeduck]

ARE LARGER CHANGES ON THE HORIZON FOR ESPN.COM?

Written by Ben Koo on 12 June 2013.

 

 

The Big Lead had a scoop earlier this week on ESPN reportedly looking to hire a full armada of beat writers covering every NFL team.

 

"ESPN.com is bolstering its NFL coverage significantly this summer – I’ve learned that the website is hiring beat writers for all 32 NFL teams.

 

According to a source who interviewed for one of the openings, the goal is to have beat writers for every team in place by August. Previously, ESPN.com had just one writer in charge of every NFL division."

 

The article would go on to say that with ESPN local writers already in house (New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas) as well as the NFL Division blogger coverage already in place, ESPN only has to find beat coverage for 15 teams.

 

A thread on SportsJournalists.com, an online message board consisting of those in sports media, provided some more insight although you'll have to it with a grain of salt given it is a message board. Some details there include:

 

- To the surprise of the community there, these look to be full time positions with benefits.

 

- Citing some rumored salaries of ESPN college bloggers, the believed salary range is believed to be north of 80k, a number that is believed to potentially lead to a "mass exodus" from the struggling print world.

 

- Only 19 of the 32 positions are technically new hires and some of those are already filled. The other 13 positions will be staffed by existing ESPN talent who were either doing the division blog coverage or writing at a ESPN local sites.

 

- A poster cited that Michael C Wright who was under the ESPN Chicago banner will provide the ESPN.com Bears beat coverage going forward for the Bears.

 

Again the details above should be taken with a grain of salt but that being said, this aligns with a tip we received a month ago.

 

We were informed of the possibility that ESPN was considering, or potentially in the process of, pivoting their local strategy. In particular, some of the ESPN local sites were going to be closed down and ESPN was looking to do more of a Heat Index type model for local coverage of approximately 40 of the most popular sports teams in America.

 

We followed up on the tip and spoke to several ESPN.com local writers. Although none would give confirmation, the majority of the feedback we got consisted of the following: "I wouldn't doubt it", "sounds about right" and "we've felt something possibly coming for a while."

 

In particular, we learned these tidbits from local ESPN writers:

 

- ESPN Boston and ESPN New York in terms of promotion, resources, and communication with Bristol seem to be much more beloved and safest from any type of strategy change.

 

- ESPN Dallas, Chicago, and Los Angeles are "a lot more automated" now than they used to be.

 

- Dallas, Chicago, and Los Angeles have over time seen their staffs reduced, the amount of teams they cover reduced, as well the travel allowed to cover the larger teams decreased as well.

 

While this was all very interesting, those who might be in the know gave us the old corporate PR 2 step when contacted.

 

Since then, ESPN has undergone major layoffs and reports indicate resources from local sites will help drive enhanced beat coverage, at least for the NFL and maybe even beyond.

 

ESPN decided to dip its toe into the regional portal/hub in 2010 and although early on there was much back patting and chest beating on the initiative, it's been mostly quiet the last couple of years. No more local hubs have opened up, which signals the success of the first batch of cities was a mixed bag.

 

If ESPN were to move away from the regional hub and original content model, they'd actually be following the lead of SB Nation. Right around the same time in 2010 that ESPN did their PR blitz on the regional site initiative, SB Nation embarked on their own sports regional hub journey announcing they'd roll out 20 sports local sites as well. Below is a graphic of the rollout schedule of those sites in 2010.

 

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/june/are-larger-changes-on-the-horizon-for-espn-com.html

[treeduck]

[Turbine Freight]

Dockett may as well have painted a bullseye on his face. He will get smashed just for wearing this faux-intimidation face mask.

[laughedatbytime]

- ESPN Boston and ESPN New York in terms of promotion, resources, and communication with Bristol seem to be much more beloved and safest from any type of strategy change.

Since according to ESPN, Boston and New York constitute the entire sports universe, this is not surprising.

[treeduck]

Dockett may as well have painted a bullseye on his face. He will get smashed just for wearing this faux-intimidation face mask.

It's really rainbow!

[laughedatbytime]

Desmond Bishop apparently next ex Packer to travel west to Minnesota, according to Pro Football Talk. Deal is for one year.

[Finding IT]

- ESPN Boston and ESPN New York in terms of promotion, resources, and communication with Bristol seem to be much more beloved and safest from any type of strategy change.

Since according to ESPN, Boston and New York constitute the entire sports universe, this is not surprising.

 

God, ain't this the truth.

[Lost In Xanadu]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/sports/football/patriots-aaron-hernandez-arrested.html?_r=0

 

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. –- The New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested and led away from his suburban home here in handcuffs Monday morning. Hernandez, wearing a white T-shirt and red athletic shorts, was driven to the North Attleborough police department. The police have yet to announce whether Hernandez is being charged.

[Syrinx]

Hernandez released by the Patriots

[Principled Man]

Desmond Bishop apparently next ex-Packer to travel west to Minnesota, according to Pro Football Talk. Deal is for one year.

 

Hope they paid him extra for having to deal with idiot reporters asking him if he wanted to "get back at" the Packers.....

[Principled Man]

Hernandez released by the Patriots

 

If this were Roman times, some centurian would be offering Hernandez a dagger, so he could "keep his honor"..... :o :o