The Red Zone Lounge

Posts Tagged ‘NFC West’

The Seahawks have agreed to terms with linebacker Leroy Hill.  The multiyear deal worth $38 million came Thursday, right before Seattle’s minicamp this weekend.  The terms of the deal, as reported by the NFL, are that it’s a six year deal for $38 million with $15.5 million guaranteed.  The deal also includes preventing the Seahawks from going after Hill’s bonuses if he is suspended by the league.  Hill could be facing a suspension from an arrest in January over a misdemeanor marijuana possession in Georgia.

Hill had received the franchise tag from the Seahawks but following the 2009 NFL Draft, in which Seattle took linebacker Aaron Curry with the fourth pick overall, the recinded the tag as Hill refused to sign the $8.3 million tender.  It was expected Hill might have been released but that was put to rest with Thursday’s signing.

The Arizona Cardinals releasing veteran running back Edgerrin James is expected to go down sometime this week, says an anonmyous NFL source.  The Cardinals picked up two running backs in this years draft including first round pick Chris “Beanie” Wells from Ohio State.  Already having Tim Hightower as a change of pace back, Wells is projected to take the starting roll and be the featured back in the desert. 

James sought an exit from Arizona during last season, after seeing a decreased roll in the offense due to the prolific passing game and introduction of Hightower.  James only put up 133 carries for 514 yards for the season, career lows for the 10-year veteran.  James could be released as early as Tuesday says the source and would be able to go to another team but with all the younger talent he may find the same situtation in another franchise.  He may find the role he’s looking for with a team that doesn’t yet have a defined running game, such as Cincinnati or perhaps Cleveland.  Kansas City wouldn’t be a stretch but what is almost certain is James will find a home rather quickly if he is indeed let go from Arizona.

The Jacksonville Jaguars took a major step in filling holes Monday with the signing of veteran wideout Torry Holt.  Holt and the team agreed to a three-year deal worth $20 million, $4 million guaranteed.  The Jaguars were in dire need of receivers after the releasing of Matt Jones and Jerry Porter.

Holt was released from the St. Louis Rams, where he’s played his whole career, in March to clear cap space for younger talent.  Releasing Holt cleared up $8 million in cap space for the Rams.  The question wasn’t would Holt find another home, it was with who and what was his price tag.  After a short stint of shopping it came down to Jacksonville and Tennessee.  There were rumors that Orlando Pace, also recently released by the Rams and picked up by the Bears, wanted Holt to join him in Chicago.  In the end, both the Jaguars and Holt felt it was the right fit.

Jacksonville holds the 8th overall pick in this weekend’s NFL Draft.  It’s been speculated that they would surely go wide receiver with that selection but with the aquisition of Holt it seems they have more options.  Drafting a young receiver would allow him to study under a veteran of high calibur to train for the number one spot.  Or they could go with quarterback to give them to option to release or not renew current signal caller David Garrard’s contract in the next year or two.  Anything can happen in the NFL Draft, tune in this weekend to see it live!

Jason Peters will finally get what he wanted.  The Buffalo Bills have agreed to deal the left tackle to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for their first-round pick, 28th overall of next week’s draft.  The deal was agreed upon in principle but details havent been released.  The person who spoke about the deal, remains anonamous as the transaction hasn’t been officially announced.

The two time Pro Bowler has been seeking a new contract and looked to make over $10 million a year.  When contract negotiations failed it was expected that he would be traded.  The Eagles were a prime candidate as they were in the market for a left tackle.  It was speculated that the Eagles would try to trade up in the draft for one of the top tackles in the draft.  Making this move, they have one less position to fill and may look to take one of talented wide receievers, if any are left, with one of their remaining picks.

This is just one of the huge trades expected to go down in the weeks leading up to the draft.  Others still remain to be seen including Anquan Boldin, Chad Johnson and Julius Peppers.  As the draft gets closer, many trades will happen if it is in the cards for them to happen.

Anquan Boldin has wanted out of Arizona since last summer, asking for a trade but it seemed almost certain that the Cardinals would never let him go.  Now it seems, the Cardinals are open to listening to trade offers for the Pro Bowl wideout.  It doesn’t look as if they will actually trade Boldin, as he has two years left on his contract, but it’s only smart to see what the offers are.

“Before the draft, you know there is going to talk about Anquan and his situation and a trade,” Whisenhunt said. “Since not a whole lot has changed with his contractual situation, we know that will come back up.

“It would be foolish from our standpoint not to listen to those opportunities and see what actually exists. But I want to make the point … our goal is to re-sign him to a long-term deal. That hasn’t changed.”

Said general manager Rod Graves, “We just think it is prudent for us to evaluate all our options.”

The Cardinals have been linked to a few teams already as far as a Boldin trade but it’s most likely not going to produce anything. Unless they get an offer similar to the Roy Williams trade to Dallas, getting a first, third and sixth-round pick or something of that value, Boldin will remain in the desert.

Larry Firzgerald, star wideout for the Arizona Cardinals has said he allow his contract to be restructured in order to keep Anquan Boldin in the desert.  Boldin with two years left on his contract, had stated early in 2008 that he did not wish to resign with the Cardinals, but seems to have warmed up to the idea of extending his stay.

“Someone asked me a question if I would be willing to do something to help the team, and I said, ‘No problem,’ ” Fitzgerald said Wednesday. “This opportunity right here to be playing deep in the postseason, this is an amazing feeling. I’ll do whatever it takes to get back to this point going forward in my career.”

Fitzgerald and Boldin are undoubtedly the best wide receiver duo in the NFL today, both going over 1,000 yards and have 23 touchdowns between them.  Fitzgerald hauled in 96 passes totalling 1,431 yards, making it into the endzone 12 times.  Bolding, even with not starting four games due to injury, managed to make 89 catches for 1,038 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Fitzgerald signed a four-year $40 million contract going following the 2007 season, guaranteeing him $30 million.  Bolding is looking to lock in a similar deal, which would be a serious upgrade over his $22.75 million over four years.  He made $4 million this season. 

The Cardinals organization has expressed interest in keeping Boldin in Arizona and will try to make that happen following Super Bowl 43.

Kurt Warner is considering retirement.  Warner, 37, has been thinking about retiring at the end of the season the past couple weeks.  Reasons attributing include mental wear and tear, his age and most importantly the injury to teammate Anquan Boldin last Sunday.  Boldin went up for a catch in the endzone and was hit by defenders one that was helmet to helmet.  He was knocked out and after examination the only damage was a fractured sinus that required surgery.  Warner blames himself for that injury, saying he threw the ball to high and caused that horrible accident to happen, but he’s just beating himself up.  Football is a very physical sport and things like that will happen, and the league is doing their part to reduce that with fines for helmet to helmet contact.

Warner sent a text to his wife Brenda following that game, saying it’s time to retire.  His family would like him to retire, Brenda especially.  The idea that any given Sunday he could suffer an injury, whether small or season ending would be terrible for them.  But that comes with the territory in the NFL, the risk inherent to the league.

“The bottom line is it is a great game, it has done great things for me and my family, but I want to walk away and be everything I can be for my family,” Warner said the day after the Bills’ win. “Those situations (like Boldin) make you contemplate that.

Needless to say, Warner was at a low following the loss last Sunday to the Jets, but following his romping of the until then unbeaten Buffalo Bills 41-17, he was up again.  His wife even joked that he would never retire now.  But the pressure has never been higher for Warner, he is constantly compared to his St. Louis days, taking the Rams to the Super Bowl.  He is expected to play to that caliber and they are willing to put Matt Leinart if or when he fails.

It doesn’t look like Warner will be failing anytime soon, this season he has thrown for 1,472 yards with a rating of 100.2 which is fifth in the NFL.  His passing yards rank him third in the NFL beind Drew Brees with 1,673 and Jay Cutler with 1,502.  He is also one of five quarterbacks with 10 or more touchdown passes this season thus far.  This streak should continue for the rest of the season, and could allow him to return next season.

Quickly following his installment as interim head coach of the St. Louis Rams, Jim Haslett benched Trent Green for Marc Bulger.  Green, who was recently named the starter by former head coach Scott Linehan was only able to play one game in the new position before Linehan was fired.  The firing followed the Rams 4 straight losses this season, giving Haslett his turn to lead.  Many people considered the quarterback change a mistake and that was quickly corrected.

Bulger, the highest paid play in Rams franchise history, was benched by Linehan in a scrambling move to save his job.  He was benched for Green, 38, but led to a similar out come with the Rams losing to the Bills 31-14.  Besides the quarterback change, Haslett does not believe anymore big changes will happen but if necessary they may.

“We will try to utilize our players the best we can, I talked to the offensive guys about getting our play makers the ball like Torry (Holt) and Donnie (Avery) and Steven (Jackson), those three in particular. I would like to see Torry touch the ball a little bit more, especially early in the game.”

The Rams have a strong offense that was struggling for unknown reasons.  Jackson has rushed for three 1,000-yard seasons consecutively and has had a slow start having only rushed 74 times for 269 yards this season, and only one touchdown.  Getting their play makers the ball with changed up play calling should help this team improve, which they desperately need to.

Steven Jackson, running back for the St. Louis Rams, spoke to fans on Thursday.  His message, “I’m ready to go”.  Referring to participating in Sunday’s game against the 3-0 Buffalo Bills, Jackson’s sore groin will not be a factor.  Jackson missed four games last season due to a groin injury, and many were wondering if he would be able to play through it this season after missing parts of practice Wednesday.  The soreness started after the loss to Seattle and has continued from then.

Jackson is confident that he will be ready to go, to try and improve the Rams to 1-3 on the season against the Bills.  The Rams have been struggling this season in all aspects of their team.  Jackson has had 50 carries for a total of 150 yards on the season.

The Rams decided to shake things up after their third straight loss this season, leading with the benching of quarterback Marc Bulger, for backup Trent Green.  Green made his return to the Rams organization this offseason and now has his chance to start.  Jackson has only taken snaps from Bulger during his four years in the NFL, so needless to say taking them from Green will take some getting used to.

“Playing with Marc for a number of years now, it’s going to be a little difficult, it’s going to be different,” Jackson said. “I have got to get used to the snap count, the play calling.”

The Rams also released starting cornerback Fakhir Brown, who has been suffering from an injured shoulder from training camp.  That move allowed the Rams to sign cornerback Jason Craft, recently released from the Saints.

The Rams definitely needed the changes they made and signs that they paid off will soon follow.  The next couple weeks are crucial for St. Louis, their season could be lost very quickly.

Plaxico Burress, star wideout for the reigning Super Bowl Champions, the New York Giants, was suspended for one game Wednesday.  This disciplinary action following Burress’ failure to show up to team workouts earlier this week.  His response, from his agent, is that he had an family emergency that wasn’t disclosed.  He is appealing the suspension.

The Giants are on a bye this weekend so the one game suspension would keep him out of the game against the Seattle Seahawks on October 5th.  He would not be allowed to return to team activities until the next day following that game.  Because of that span, Burress will miss out on two paychecks equaling $235,294.12, out of his base $2,000,000 he earns each year. 

The Giants would not comment on why their superstar receiver was suspended but Burress’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, made clear he had missed workouts for a family emergency but wouldn’t give any details on that.  Rosenhaus also said that Burress had spoken with Charles Way, Giants special assistant, Monday but stated that there was a “miscommunication” between the receiver and the team.

“Again we’re acknowledging that there should be some repercussion, but not to the extent where he is denied his right to perform his livelihood to play,” Rosenhaus said in a conference call. “We think it is very serious and not very common, but there are things that do take place in the NFL that you could say are worse and have not led to suspension.”

They hope to have this situation handled and have Burress back on the active roster before the game against Seatle.  Head coach Tom Coughlin and the Giants are trying to make a statement about keeping their team responsible.

“We have had success here because of the team concept,” Coughlin said after practice Wednesday. “And the team concept means basically that everyone is accountable and responsible and that we don’t let the other guys down. And that is what we are trying to do.”

Not having Burress against Seattle won’t necessarily hurt the team’s chances of coming out with a win but it’s certainly not going to help at all.