NFL Football: June 2012

Friday, June 22, 2012

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NFL denies retractions of key witnesses in Saints bounty probe

Roger Goodell denies placing gag orders on Saints employees. (AP)

NEW ORLEANS -- The NFL is denying accusations that it covered up retractions made by key witnesses in its bounty investigation, or that Commissioner Roger Goodell has placed gag orders on Saints employees and others who could help punished players clear their names.

Lawyer Peter Ginsberg, who represents suspended Saints player Jonathan Vilma, made the accusations when punished players appeared earlier this week for an appeal hearing, a full transcript of which has been obtained by the Associated Press.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello says claims of a gag order are "completely untrue," and that no potential witnesses were instructed by the league to stay away from Monday's hearing.

The transcript also shows that the NFL Players Association formally asked Goodell to recuse himself from ongoing appeal proceedings, contending that he is incapable of ruling "without the appearance of bias."

"The commissioner has publicly appeared on television and in other (forums) defending the discipline," NFLPA attorney Jeffrey Kessler said. "We would ask that the commissioner step down, to the extent that these proceedings continue, as the decision maker and that a neutral decision maker be appointed in his place."

The early portions of the transcript detail a series of verbal jousts that Ginsberg sought to deliver to the commissioner before leaving the appeal hearing early in protest.

In discussing witnesses he has been unable to speak with, Ginsberg told Goodell, "You have made threats to keep them from talking to us. You have refused to have them even participate in today's proceedings."

Ginsberg and the NFLPA had asked the NFL to compel several witnesses to appear at the appeal hearing, including Saints head coach Sean Payton, assistant head coach Joe Vitt, general manager Mickey Loomis, former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, and former defensive assistant Mike Cerullo.

While the NFL declined to require anyone to attend the hearing, Aiello said the players and their representatives "were free to bring any witnesses of their choosing, including any coaches if they agreed to appear."

Ginsberg further asserted that Williams and Cerullo offered retractions of some of their initial statements to the NFL in the investigation, and that the league has neglected to share that information. Aiello denied such retractions were ever made.

Ginsberg also accused the NFL of distorting evidence introduced at the appeals hearing, including an email from marketing agent Mike Ornstein to Williams, who the NFL says ran a bounty program from 2009 to 2011.

In the email, Ornstein tells Williams he gave him "1,500 last week, I will give you another 1,500 the next four game (sic) and the final 2,000 the last 4." Ginsberg asserts that the NFL included the email as evidence even after Ornstein told Goodell the email related to a Gregg Williams charity.

The NFL declined to comment beyond its assertion in Monday's hearing that the total amount of money the email discusses - $5,000 - matches the amount listed next to Ornstein's name on a note outlining pledges made as "seed money" to a performance incentive pool that rewarded big plays as well as injurious hits.

Ginsberg told the commissioner he imposed a "misplaced punishment" which "cast a shadow not only on Mr. Vilma personally and professionally, but, I dare say, on the NFL and on the office of the commissioner in engaging in these proceedings."

He then concluded his statement by urging Goodell to "rescind any punishment against Mr. Vilma and to apologize in public for what you have done."

Not long after making those statements on the record, Ginsberg, who is also representing Vilma in a separate defamation lawsuit against Goodell in federal court in New Orleans, left the hearing with Vilma in protest, They did not return for an afternoon session.

Later in the hearing, Kessler said the remaining three punished players -- Saints defensive end Will Smith, Green Bay defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, and linebacker Scott Fujita -- would listen to the remainder of the hearing, but would decline to participate because they believed the proceeding lacked elements required to meet the standard of a "fair hearing" under the NFL's current labor agreement.

"The essence of that hearing contains certain matters that are being denied to the players here," Kessler said. "In particular, we're not being given the opportunity to confront and cross-examine the actual witnesses who have evidence on this."

Kessler made an additional point that the NFL has already stated publicly that Williams, the defensive coordinator, ran the Saints' incentive pool, and that punishing employees for something their employers instructed them to do is "contrary to established legal principles."

The NFL continued its portion of the hearing in which it reviewed evidence against the players.

Goodell did not recuse himself and it did not appear he would consider doing so after league attorney Adolpho Birch responded to Kessler that an arbitrator already ruled Goodell has the authority to hear the appeal.

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Retirees appeal dismissed lawsuit vs. players union

MINNEAPOLIS -- The retired players whose lawsuit against the NFL Players Association was dismissed last month have filed an appeal.

The group led by Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller filed Thursday with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson rejected their claims that the current players and their attorneys had no right to bargain with the NFL about retiree benefits last summer because they weren't legally a union then. Nelson in her May 29 order denied their right to hundreds of millions of dollars in additional post-career benefits they argued they were cheated out of during lockout talks last year.

The retirees contended they were pushed out of negotiations to streamline the mediation process despite a court order for their inclusion

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Broncos LB Williams see complaint dismissed; six-game suspension intact

DENVER -- A federal judge has dismissed a complaint filed against the NFL by Denver Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams, who was seeking to overturn his drug suspension.

Attorney Peter Ginsberg said Thursday that Williams would appeal the decision.

Williams had sued the NFL to overturn a pending six-game drug suspension. He contended that the league violated protocol in collecting urine samples.

Williams faces a trial on a drunken driving charge in August. He was arrested in Denver on Nov. 12, 2010, when he was spotted driving his car without headlights. He was cited with DUI and taken to a detox facility.

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Thursday, June 21, 2012

Pre-vacation cleanup: 10 items on to-do list, starting with McCoy, Brees, FA bargains

Colt McCoy could be a great pickup for six teams in particular. (Getty Images)

The final minicamps are over and everyone in the NFL is just about ready to go on vacation. With all the rookies signed, even the contract negotiators (which I once was) will get a real vacation. But before everyone races out of the parking lot and heads to the lake, here's a few things left to do:

1. Teams like the Packers, Chiefs, Saints, Bucs, Rams, and Ravens should make a call to the Browns and find out just how serious they are about trading Colt McCoy.

2. The Saints need to push the Drew Brees deal to $20 million per year, get him signed and let him get his offseason throwing program with his receivers going. Opening day isn't that far away.

3. Pro personnel directors need to look closely at the remaining quality free agents and grab one or two to fill in the back end of their rosters. Plaxico Burress, Vernon Carey, Patrick Crayton, Visanthe Shiancoe, James Hall, Jim Leonhard, Gary Brackett and Cedric Benson among others can still play and probably start for some teams.

4. Either the Bears or the Ravens need to sign their franchise running back now. Whether it's Matt Forte or Ray Rice, the team that waits will spend more to get their guy under a long term deal later this summer. Remember what Chris Johnson got when he held out?

5. The Lions need to get a long term deal done with Jim Schwartz before he heads out for some R&R.

6. The Broncos, Chiefs and Raiders may want to celebrate the retirement of LaDainian Tomlinson by sending him a thoughtful thank you note. LT had a 34-22 record against his former division opponents and his numbers were ridiculous: 1,142 rushes, 5,099 yards, 56 rushing touchdowns, 193 receptions, 1,331 yards and seven receiving touchdowns. LT averaged 115 yards of total offense a game against the AFC West.

7. Time for Bountygate to go away even if that means reducing some of the player suspensions. Cut the four player penalties in half and put the issue behind us so the focus is on the upcoming season.

8. All the first-round picks unsigned just need to get their deals done. The era of the holdout is over.

9. Some team or teams should make a consulting deal with former Eagle executive Joe Banner. Hand him all of your contracts (which he probably already knows verbatim) and when vacation is over he will have a nice set of guidelines for the future of your club.

10. The Steelers should spell out to Mike Wallace just how much money he can lose under the restricted tag and two franchise tags over the next three years versus doing a five-year deal now with significant guaranteed money in it. He will see $23.43 million over three years ($7.81 average) under the three tags IF he stays healthy. Keep in mind the franchise tag went down $2 million from 2011. A five-year deal now averaging just over $8 million should put $18 million guaranteed in his pocket now and close to $28 million over the first three years. He may be better than DeSean Jackson, who got $51 million over five years, but Jackson came into the NFL in 2008 and had a franchise tag on him this year. Wallace came in 2009 and is only a restricted free agent and simply doesn't have the same leverage. Both players were born in 1986, and Jackson now knows his contract expires as he turns 30. If Wallace plays on three tags he will be looking for a long term deal when he's going to be 28 and any serious injuries between now and then will hurt his market value.

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Vikings' Peterson making progress after knee surgery but 'just not there yet'

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Adrian Peterson isn't back to normal yet.

That's natural. The Minnesota Vikings star is merely six months removed from reconstructive surgery on his left knee, rehabilitating an injury that can take a year to return to full strength.

Peterson, though, is not a run-of-the-mill running back. He possesses a unique blend of fierce determination, perpetual optimism and seemingly superhuman strength, so if anyone can come back ahead of schedule and pick right up where he left off it's probably him.

His steady progress and lack of setbacks since tearing the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments last Dec. 24 has only increased the expectations that he'll find a way to be on the field for the season opener Sept. 9 when the Vikings play host to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Peterson spoke to reporters during minicamp Wednesday, his usual upbeat attitude contradicting the dreariness of a rainy afternoon dominated by wide receiver Percy Harvin's request for a trade.

Harvin told Peterson recently he's cutting so well it's tough to tell he was injured.

"So that made me feel good," Peterson said.

But even Peterson had to put aside his utopian view for a few seconds and acknowledge the reality of his situation. There is still much work to be done.

"I know my body overall, and I know I'm just not there yet," Peterson said. "It's not terrible, but I'm not to where I know I need to be."

Training camp starts in five weeks.

"He really is on course and still doing well, but we need to see him be able to cut, be able to explode out of a cut and change direction without having any residual effects from that. Then the next step would be maybe putting shoulder pads on and seeing how he takes contact and seeing how he cuts when people come at him," head coach Leslie Frazier said, adding: "We're too far out right now to predict where we'll be five weeks from now."

Peterson declared himself "pretty much wide open" as far as his ability to go full speed in any type of drill, exercise or activity. But as Frazier noted, putting those pads on is another story. For now, he's continuing to try to restore strength in the muscles above and below the knee so they're back to pre-injury condition as well as practicing the kind of cuts, plants and pivots he'll have to perform without hesitation or limitation to return to All-Pro form.

"I'm doing as much as I can. I'll be talking to the coaches and whispering in their ears and trying to get out there as much as possible. But we'll see," he said.

Notes

LB Jasper Brinkley, in line to be the new starter at the middle spot, is being held out of minicamp because of a groin problem. He missed last season after hip surgery. Frazier said the injuries aren't related, but he again expressed concern about the team's depth at that position. "You can't make him go out there and practice if you know it's going to create some issues for him health-wise, but it does definitely make you concerned," Frazier said. ... WR Stephen Burton, a seventh-round draft pick last year who is in the mix for a roster spot, has pneumonia and won't practice anymore this week.

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DT Stroud, after 10 NFL seasons, signs one-day contract to retire as a Jaguar

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Marcus Stroud is retiring after a decade in the NFL.

Stroud is planning to sign a one-day contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Wednesday before calling it quits.

A first-round draft pick from Georgia in 2001, Stroud spent seven years in Jacksonville. Teamed with John Henderson, Stroud gave the Jaguars one of the most formidable defensive fronts in football between 2002 and 2006. Stroud had 274 tackles and 22 sacks with the Jaguars and was voted a Pro Bowl starter in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Traded to Buffalo in 2008, Stroud had 150 tackles and 7 1/2 sacks in three seasons with the Bills.

He is the fifth player to re-sign with Jacksonville before retiring, joining Tony Boselli, Fred Taylor, Paul Spicer and Donovin Darius.

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Bountygate has exposed that there's no such thing as labor peace in NFL

By Jason La Canfora | CBS Sports NFL InsiderJune 20, 2012 10:26 PM ET

Vitt picked up a rare win as the NFL recanted its claim of his payment to players. (Getty Images)

If the Bountygate fallout has taught us anything at all, it's that there will always be instances unforeseen by any collective bargaining agreement, and that there always will, and frankly should, be friction between labor and management. Only 10 months into the signing of this 10-year document, already it is being tested in an era of unprecedented offseason developments, some surreal and some just bizarre.

The NFLPA will continue to fight for issues it feels are important to its constituents, and to vigorously oppose the owners on matters in which it believes the league has failed, with the bounty investigation and hyper-stringent penalties the most glaring example. Likewise, the NFL will do what it believes must be done to protect the best interests of the game, and so the sides will invariably clash. That's the business.

Thus, even with two grievances denied -- still awaiting appeal -- and with an accused player, Jonathan Vilma, suing the commissioner, there is still the potential for further legal action against the league, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. And the NFL's displays of evidence to both the players, and the media, at the appeals hearing Monday has in no way dulled the union's will to continue fighting these penalties. The NFL claims the existence of a widespread bounty system with Saints personnel admitting as much during the investigation; players continue to vehemently deny it, Anthony Hargrove the latest to do so, and coach Joe Vitt came out on the attack Wednesday regarding allegations he paid $5,000 to players, which the NFL then recanted.

Just another 72 hours in this awkward affair.

If anything, Roger Goodell's drastic punishments have only enhanced the NFLPA's rank-and-file's rancor about the extent of the commissioner's powers. Of course, with the new CBA doing little to mute Goodell's authority on off-field discipline, this will be an uphill battle, but the quest is on. During the CBA talks, the issue of curbing Goodell's reach was trumped by some financial factors, and many of the players leading the charge as executive committee members weren't accustomed to running afoul of the league office and the topic didn't seem to be paramount with all.

It was sacrificed in the quest to stave off 18-game seasons and the like. In hindsight, those leading the NFLPA charge needed more foresight, and we shall see what can be accomplished in that regard now. But if anything, the NFL's aggressive tactics in the bounty case have emboldened the union's fight and unified them.

The handling of the Saints case has framed the scope of the commissioner's powers as an issue that can touch all players, even a ranking union official like Scott Fujita. Is it too late to mitigate Goodell's power? Perhaps. But remember, not all of the changes that come in this sport are through CBA talks. Major initiatives with the war on concussions were worked out before the lockout and construction of this CBA, and there is a constant dialogue between the sides with deals cut as addendums to the CBA with some regularity (the controversial salary cap agreement that stripped the Cowboys and Redskins of millions in cap space is one recent example).

So, what's the potential end game?

Well, the "global settlement" that ended the lockout clearly didn't resolve all dangling issues. There has been little progress on HGH talks, and I would be stunned if there will be any budging by the players on that anytime soon. It remains a potential chip for further horse trading. The league has left open the option of re-exploring the potential of an 18-game season, and it would take massive concessions to ever get it. But these are the kind of swaps that could at least at some point be discussed.

Say for instance that for the league to get HGH testing fully implemented, it might have to give the union the right to opt out of the CBA early, or agree to a panel of outside officials to work alongside Goodell on doling out suspensions. The NFLPA might not have a ton of leverage -- and its inability to get more of his power in check before this CBA was signed looms very large -- but it certainly has enough to continue the kind of back-and-forth that might ultimately lead to the resolution of some of these macro issues that continue to drive them apart.

There won't be any backdown and, as I noted, there could be a few more legal tricks up some sleeves. The legacy of this CBA could end up being as much about the differences that lingered on as much all that was sorted out. And I can't say I blame the NFLPA for bucking the league on the bounty saga.

First of all, if you have spent any time around Gregg Williams, you know that bluster and hyperbole are very much a part of what made his defenses so good. He is a master of pushing buttons and whipping players into a frenzy -- I covered his defense in Washington for four years -- but much of it was pointed rhetoric, and that's it. To dissect and parse it out literally, out of that context, tells a story not indicative of how his teams truly played on the field. The league has found notations for "knockouts" and "cart-offs", but how much of that was literal, as I don't recall a steady procession of Saints opponents being raced from the field week after week.

And I've got news for you: There isn't a defensive coordinator in the game who wouldn't relish being able to play two or three quarters of a game with the opposing starting quarterback on the sidelines through a good, clean hit. That's football, people. This ain't Chinese checkers.

With Williams, it's bombastic display for motivational impact, and it goes on to some degree or another everywhere. It's not great for the game and the Saints took it too far, but do we know that players making millions were intentionally trying to injure opposing players and then receiving actual payments for doing so? And if you aren't convinced, then does the league owe it to its fans to go to all lengths to display just that?

The dirty little secret of pay-for-performance has been exposed, again, but this can't be painted as a New Orleans problem. It has been going on forever. The Green Bay Packers were found to be doing as much in 2007 and received no real penalties, yet the subjects found to be involved in this case have been hit penalties the likes of which we have never seen before.

And the league is alleging obviously much more was taking place here, but again I ask: Do you feel as if they have proved it in the court of public opinion, or to the average NFL player? Especially now with former Saints practice squad player Earl Heyman publicly refuting the league's contention that Hargrove was caught by microphones yelling about being paid for a hit on Brett Favre.

And as best I can tell, the most damaging evidence the league has shared with players or the media points to a fairly elaborate pay-for-performance program, but lacks that true smoking gun laying out intent that members of this defense were going around trying to maim people on a weekly basis, and expecting actual payments for those transgressions. (Some of the ledgers the league has discovered, Saints players would characterize more as an imaginary scoreboard or sorts, and not actual documentation that any payments were actually made outside of sacks, forced fumbles, hits behind the line of scrimmage, etc?). The league says individuals have admitted much more, but yet the rebuttals continue.

Could be only those directly involved in the case have seen evidence directly proving these payments to injure, but given the sideshow atmosphere this has taken on, I would figure it's in the best interest of the league to pull no punches now. This investigation is by no means beyond reproach, and recent events create more questions than answers.

Vilma has gone to a level never before seen with his lawsuit. Hargrove stopped just short of taking a lie detector test in front of the league office Tuesday as he read his emotional statement declaring he did not utter anything about being paid on a videotape used as evidence by the NFL Monday. Then Vitt goes ahead and says he would take the test. And yes, many in the Saints organization should have been more forthcoming initially about matters of pay-for-performance, and part of their cover-up and initial deceit had to play some role in these harsh penalties. But that also doesn't mean that every statement given to the league, anonymously or not, in the investigation was correct or that all of this happening as literally as some of the locker room language might make it seem.

With so much power resting with the league, at times it seems the rules were being made up as this played out, right through the reportedly sudden decision to call in selected media members Monday for an impromptu briefing. A few more checks and balances wouldn't seem to be out of line to me. Maybe the NFLPA will manage to accomplish some of that goal, though it would hard to bet on it.

Regardless, you can't convince me this ongoing circus has been good for the business of the game, with players suing the commissioner and all, and it certainly has damaged Goodell's standing in the eyes of many players. He's easy to like and has had been a strong steward of the game throughout his tenure, but he and the league have opened themselves up to criticism here, and I'm not sure this will go away easily.

Building some better consensus early in the process, altering the wording of some of those press releases might have helped, and the league contends, strongly, that the NFLPA itself was not nearly as cooperative as it could have or should have been through the process. It's the ultimate he said/he said, and on and on it goes.

The dueling press releases and statements can be monotonous and tedious and painful at times to follow. But we should expect nothing less. It's part of the fabric of any big business, and football, with players risking so much to play and billions in revenue in the balance, is nothing if not big business. You can put the NFL and NFLPA right up there with Red Sox vs. Yankees, or Ali vs. Frazier, and given the very different masters these entities serve, I totally get it.

It's a partnership for sure, but a prickly one at best. Not even securing 10 years of labor "peace" during a period of record growth and prosperity can change that.

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Troublesome Harvin shows he's just another diva NFL receiver

On the advice of Randy Moss, Harvin took the message of getting rid of ex-coach Brad Childress. (US Presswire)

Once again the NFL's wide receivers are in the news. They are, it seems, always in the news. This time, it's the beginning of the Wide Receiver Redemption Tour, starring the talented, the misfit, the cut, the straight cash homie. One of those stars is Percy Harvin.

Journalist Tom Pelissero first reported these facts, and since then two sources have told me the same and added slightly more detail. Go back to 2010 and Randy Moss getting the boot from Minnesota. Moss, as he's been at almost every one of his NFL stops, was poison in the locker room, and his second tenure with the Vikings was no different.

Moss and Harvin became close friends, with Moss serving as a mentor to Harvin. Moss will not exactly enter the mentor hall of fame, but there he was shaping the young mind of Harvin. After getting released, Moss told Harvin he should do everything possible to get coach Brad Childress fired. Nicely done, mentor.

Harvin, I'm told, for whatever reason, took that message to heart. Within a week after Moss was gone, Harvin and Childress got into an expletive-filled, heated exchange, started, I'm told, by Harvin.

Several players had to pull the two men apart, fearing a physical encounter, and as they did, Harvin seconds later picked up a small weight and threw it at Childress. Surprisingly, the walking malady Harvin wasn't injured in the process.

Now, Harvin has requested a trade, and here we go again with the damn wide receivers.

It's well documented that some (though clearly not all) NFL receivers are prima donn-ic, living and breathing cautionary tales about ego undercutting self-interest. But this summer -- and during the upcoming season -- the wide receiver freak show may reach an almost P.T. Barnum level of ridiculousness.

This season will be one of the wildest rides yet for a position that often gets extremely wild. The redemption tour, indeed. Moss and Mario Manningham in San Francisco, Santonio Holmes in New York, Harvin wants a new team, Plaxico "Gunsmoke" Burress is looking for employment, Chad Ochocinco is now in Miami, and Terrell Owens wants to be anywhere in the NFL but likely won't be.

It's always risky to play pop psychologist and guess why this position is so screwy. No one's been able to properly decipher why guards or running backs or even most quarterbacks not named Favre don't have Grade 1 Diva but some receivers do.

Harvin's trade request kicks off the wide receiver madness, already in full bloom. NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reports that Harvin's trade demand isn't about his contract status. Harvin, I'm told, wants a new start elsewhere, but it won't happen. A Vikings official says the only way Harvin would be traded is "if all hell breaks loose." Meaning if Harvin decides to sit out the season, which is unlikely. Though he is a wide receiver, so anything is possible.

If Moss was the 20th century version of the wide receiver pain in the rear, Harvin might be the 21st century model. Harvin, according to the Sporting News, failed two drug tests while at the University of Florida, and allegedly got into a physical confrontation with a Gators assistant coach (the coach denied this). Harvin is a talented player, who because of injury played in under 60 percent of the team's offensive snaps, and though explosive, overestimates his worth. Just like many of the other receivers on the redemption tour.

Moss will again be the most watched name. The general feeling around the league is that he will annihilate the 49ers' locker room as he has others. Manningham is interesting to monitor as well. Good receiver but the Giants weren't exactly saddened by his departure. He'll be out to prove them wrong.

Holmes quit on the Jets in the final game of the season, a fact that was noted publicly by teammates. "There were guys in the huddle not happy with Santonio's demeanor throughout the game and in the two-minute drill," the recently retired LaDainian Tomlinson told the media after that game, "and they said something to him about it."

What will Holmes be like this season? All indications are he won't change a bit. He threw a temper tantrum at a recent Jets minicamp and pulled himself out of drills. Same ol' Holmes.

Plaxico Burress once shot his own leg. That about sums it up with him. Several team personnel men say franchises in need of a wide receiver are going to wait and see if they need Burress enough to justify the risk. There's a chance he'll sign on somewhere this summer.

Ochocinco is one of the saner of the redemption players. An intelligent and actually good human being with a penchant for mischief, both on the field and on Twitter, his case will be a simple one. Does he still have ability? In New England, Ochocinco had difficulty with the playbook, and he clearly has had a dramatic loss of speed.

Terrell Owens will likely be untouched by an NFL team unless a bacterial infection sidelines every wideout in football.

It's early and we already have a wide receiver trade request and a wide receiver tirade.

Gonna be a fun year on the redemption tour.

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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Johnson aims at second 2K season; better Titans line may help

Monday June 04, 2012 - 2:44 PM
By Len Pasquarelli | The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com

Johnson rushed for 2,006 yards in 2009 but only 1,047 in 2011. (Getty Images)

No one has ever rushed for 2,000 yards in a season two times in NFL history. But at only 26 years old, set to turn 27 only a couple weeks into the season, Chris Johnson is aiming to become the first.

"That's definitely the goal," Johnson said.

Johnson's age alone shouldn't be viewed as a deterrent. Barry Sanders rushed for 2,053 yards in 1997 at age 29.

"I think it can be done," the Tennessee Titans' star tailback reiterated to The Tennessean newspaper recently.

And, history aside, it probably can be. But only if the Titans' offensive line, previously a model of stability and performance, plays better in 2012 than it did last season. And, too, if it comes together after an offseason of change.

Much of the culpability for Johnson's dropoff the past two seasons, after becoming only the sixth player in league history to run for 2,000 yards in 2009, has focused on the four-year veteran back. And, arguably, deservedly so, especially after a lengthy holdout in 2011 that followed the lockout.

Johnson dropped from 2,006 yards in '09, to 1,364 yards in 2010, and to a career worst 1,047 yards last season. His average per carry, only 4.0 yards, was also the lowest of his career. And only two seasons after posting seven runs of 40 yards or more in '09, he registered only one.

But the lockout seemed to affect the continuity and cohesion of the Tennessee line almost as much as it did Johnson. The unit, widely regarded as one of the league's best, has not been nearly as good the past two campaigns. And the falloff has had some kind of impact, it seems, on Johnson's productivity.

That the line hasn't been quite as good, and contributed in part to Johnson's slip, is reflected by the actions of the Tennessee football operation in the offseason. The tackle tandem of Michael Roos (left) and David Stewart (right) has stayed intact. But the interior of the unit has been overhauled after a spotty 2011 performance.

Tennessee signed 11-year veteran and seven-time Pro Bowl blocker Steve Hutchinson, and installed him at left guard, and even at age 34, he is being counted on to help supply an aggressive attitude that seemed to be missing at times in 2011. Left guard Leroy Harris likely will move to the right side to replace the departed Jake Scott. And, as if to signal some questions about longtime center Eugene Amato, the Titans visited with five free-agent snappers in the spring. They signed none, but Amano, who has vowed to retain his starting job, clearly was put on notice. As Nashville-area media outlets have noted, the interior of the line remains a work in progress in offseason practices.

The unit, which pro scouts around the league contend did not block nearly as well at "the second level" the past two seasons as in 2009, will clearly be different in its second season under line coach Bruce Matthews, who was in his first season with the franchise last year.

There is probably some credence to the "second level" assessments of NFL scouts in rating the play of the Tennessee line the past couple of seasons. In 2009, Johnson had 22 rushes of 10 or more yards, seven of 40 yards or more. The past two years, he has totaled only 24 of the former, five of the later. The synergy required of a solid running game has been as lacking as Johnson's electrifying sprints.

But with the presence of Matthews and second-year head coach Mike Munchak, two Hall of Fame guards, one would think the blocking unit would be improved.

"And it will be," said Harris, entering his third season as a starter.

Which could place the onus on Johnson in 2012. And the former first-round draft choice (2008) seems eager to accept the mantle.

"[I've] never felt better," Johnson said last month. "Whatever happened last year, well, it happened, and it's behind me."

Johnson suggested to The Tennessean that he is "still the best back in the league."

Having added 10-12 pounds, and fully committed to the offseason program for the first time in his career, Johnson appears motivated to regain his previous form. And the retooled offensive line has worked hard to smooth out the kind of rough spots always inherent to change. In addition, offensive coordinator Chris Palmer, who came aboard in 2011, will have a second season, minus a lockout, to put his scheme into place. And, as noted, Matthews will also be in his second go-round with the club.

Johnson has debunked the notion that he was perhaps overused during his first two seasons in the league. But in 2008-2009, he averaged 5.3 yards per year, including 5.6 yards per attempt in his 2,000-yard campaign. The past two years, his average has fallen off to 4.2 yards, despite carrying less. But Johnson, whose rushing scores have also dropped off, to 15 the past two years after 23 his first two, has not railed about his workload, and seems to want the ball just as much as ever.

It's not unusual for a back's production to slump after a 2,000-yard season. Not counting Terrell Davis, who rushed for 2,008 yards in 1998 but then was injured for much of '99 (when he ran for only 211 yards), 2,000-yard backs have posted between 32 percent and 51 percent fewer yards the following season. So Johnson's slide of roughly one-third between 2009 and 2010 is not that unusual. Of the back who stayed healthy, though -- Davis never again ran for over 701 yards because of injuries -- no one has rung up two consecutive "down" years. In addition to the second-time, 2,000-yard goal, Johnson, whose total of 5,645 yards is the best mark ever for a runner in his first four NFL seasons, wants to put an end to that kind of slippage as well.

"There are people out there who aren't going to give me the respect that I deserve," Johnson said in The Tennessean. With the aid of an improved offensive line, Johnson is aiming to regain that respect.

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NFL plans to 'proceed immediately' with hiring of replacement referees

Posted: 12:36 PM ET June 04, 2012

By Will Brinson | Senior NFL Blogger

NFL referees could be sitting out at the start of the season if a new CBA isn't reached soon. (Getty Images)
The NFL is preparing to head into 2012 with another labor situation unresolved, as the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the referees and the league is still up in the air. And on Monday, the NFL announced it would "proceed immediately" with the hiring of replacement refs.

A few weeks ago, we passed along the report that the NFL was telling its referee-scouting department to begin looking at possible replacements. The NFL made it official on Monday.

"Negotiations with the NFL Referees Association on a new collective bargaining agreement remain unresolved and the previous CBA has expired," the league said in a statement. "In order to ensure that there is no disruption to NFL games this season we will proceed immediately with the hiring and training of replacement officials.

"Our goal is to maintain the highest quality of officiating for our teams, players, and fans, including proper enforcement of the playing rules and efficient management of our games."

Obviously the news of using replacement refs doesn't have the same pizzazz as the terrifying possibility last summer of football not being played. There are but a few notable and famous (or perhaps you prefer infamous) zebras out there.

And that puts the current referees at a significant disadvantage when it comes to negotiations. Should this impasse continue into the season, it would take some seriously butchered officiating for fans to clamor for the return of the guys who wore the stripes previously.

For now, negotiations will continue -- the NFL also said in its statement that a mediation session took place on Sunday. Additionally, the league claims that it has "made a proposal that includes substantial increases in compensation for all game officials."

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnNFL on Twitter, subscribe to our RSS Feed and subscribe to our Pick-6 Podcast and NFL newsletter. You can follow Will Brinson on Twitter here: @willbrinson.

Tags: referee, NFL

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Colts owner Jim Irsay says deal with Andrew Luck nearly complete

Posted: 01:04 AM ET June 04, 2012

By Josh Katzowitz | NFL Blogger

Colts owner Jim Irsay tweets the Colts are close to signing the No. 1 pick. (US Presswire) This weekend, Colts owner Jim Irsay had something to say on his Twitter account, and unlike 90 percent of the tweets that come from the inside his soul, this one was actually newsworthy.

Talks with A Luck's agent,Will Wilson(the brother of Andrew's mother) have been productive. Team Counsel Dan Emerson n Will r getting close!
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) June 2, 2012

So, that's potentially some big news with “A Luck” better known as Andrew Luck, AKA the Colts 2012 No. 1 draft pick and rookie quarterback who's set to replace the legendary Peyton Manning. As the Indianapolis Star writes, the talks between Wilson and the Colts have “moved into the fourth quarter” and here's what the result should be: a contract worth about $24 million, with about $16 million of that in the form of a signing bonus.

To compare: last year, the Panthers and No. 1 pick Cam Newton agreed to a $22.05 million deal with a $14.5 million bonus.

Luck hasn't been around for OTAs because he still hasn't graduated from Stanford, but assuming this deal gets done soon, he'll show up for mini-camp next month and be ready to take his first steps as the Colts quarterback of the future.

In between running contests for fans and reciting lyrics to deep-track Pink Floyd songs on his Twitter account, I imagine Irsay will have plenty more to say when that happens.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnNFL on Twitter, and subscribe to our Pick-6 Podcast and NFL newsletter. You can follow Josh Katzowitz on Twitter here: @joshkatzowitz.

Tags: Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Indianapolis Colts, NFL

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Justin Blackmon pleads not guilty to DUI, could receive less money from Jags

Posted: 05:17 PM ET June 04, 2012

By Josh Katzowitz | NFL Blogger

Blackmon might have to take less money than 2011's No. 5 draft pick. (US Presswire)
Jaguars rookie receiver Justin Blackmon, coming off another DUI charge from Sunday morning (and this one was an aggravated DUI), might have found out that though the worst time for an incoming rookie to get in trouble comes in the months before the NFL draft, it's also not helpful to get busted before you sign your first-round contract.

As ESPN's Adam Schefter points out:

Sounds like the Jaguars can and will give first-round pick Justin Blackmon a smaller and deferred signing bonus, less guaranteed money.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 4, 2012

This news coincides with the not guilty plea made by Blackmon in Payne County (Okla.) district court Monday morning. The case will be heard July 24 at 10:30 a.m.

According to the affidavit, Stillwater police officer Charles Murphy said Blackmon didn't immediately pull over and was going as fast as 60 mph in a 35 mph zone before he stopped his vehicle. Murphy wrote that he immediately smelled alcohol on Blackmon's breath and that he had slow, slurred speech with lethargic movements.

“I just flew in. I don't know why you're harassing me,” Blackmon allegedly told Murphy.

Murphy also wrote he had to tell Blackmon to take his hands out of his pockets on four occasions while giving him a field sobriety test. Murphy said he gave Blackmon two blood alcohol tests. The first one read 0.24, three times the legal limit. The second allegedly read 0.26.

Last year's No. 5 pick, cornerback Patrick Peterson, signed a fully-guaranteed four-year deal worth $18.42 million with the Cardinals. Though Blackmon was supposed to see a slight raise from those figures, it looks like the Jaguars have a bit of leverage on him at this point.

The last time Blackmon was arrested for DUI, he was suspended for a game by Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy. This time around, if he's found guilty, Blackmon very well could face a suspension from the NFL and a loss of guaranteed salary.

As if you needed even more reasons never to drink and drive.

Tags: Justin Blackmon, Patrick Peterson, Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL

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Martellus Bennett weighs 291, is 'looking like Atlas, not Professor Klump'

Posted: 03:00 PM ET June 04, 2012

By Will Brinson | Senior NFL Blogger

Bennett (center) says his weight gain ain't no thing. (Getty Images) On Friday, we pointed out that new Giants tight end Martellus Bennett recently weighed in at a whopping 291 pounds. This prompted plenty of jokes around the Internets about Bennett becoming an extra lineman.

But Bennett didn't like any of the jokes and questions about his size and, during a shirtless interview at Giants offseason training activities, said that he bulked up on purpose and that he is "not fat."

"I had to let the world see because the way it sounds it's like, 'Damn this guy's fat? Like he let himself get fat?' Bennett said, per Jorge Castillo of the New Jersey Star-Ledger. "I just wanted everybody to know that I'm not fat. I'm trying to get an eight pack. I got six and a half now. I'm trying to get eight.

"I'm looking like Atlas, not Professor Klump."

Bennett also reminded people that he could be a pretty hilarious dude. By all accounts, his interview was closer to Klump-y in terms of laughter involved.

However, via our Giants Rapid Reporter Alex Raskin, it doesn't really sound like Bennett's new coach Tom Coughlin is that thrilled with the weight gain.

"He is a guy that obviously has got the size to carry whatever weight we would want him to carry," Coughlin said. "He claims that he has made very good strides in the weight room. He played in the 270's last year, so we will get that under control."

Coughlin certainly wants Bennett to be busting his tail in the weight room, and it's likely the coach wants to see Bennett also step up as a run blocker. But at the same time, if Bennett's off about his weight gain and it limits his ability to be productive as a receiver, that could grind Coughlin's gears pretty quickly.

Tags: Martellus Bennett, Minicamps, OTAs, New York Giants, NFL

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Lions' Best says he isn't worried about his third concussion

Monday June 04, 2012 - 6:14 PM

DETROIT -- Detroit Lions running back Jahvid Best insists he's not worried about bouncing back from a concussion that shortened his second NFL season.

Best says Monday that the concussion he had in college was worse than the one that limited him to six games last year.

He has been working out with his teammates during organized team activities and expects to be cleared for contact before training camp starts next month.

Detroit drafted Best in the first round two years ago after a concussion ended his career at California. He says that concussion was the first of three he knows he's had.

The Lions need Best in the lineup to balance their one-dimensional offense.

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Why There Is So Much Bad Behavior in the NFL

Packers' Driver rewards boy with cleats after failing to connect the first time

Tuesday June 05, 2012 - 9:50 AM

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. -- The 12-year-old boy who lost a Donald Driver cleat to a woman who ripped it away now has plenty of Green Bay Packers memorabilia.

A video of Driver tossing his cleats into the crowd after a charity softball game in Grand Chute has been popular on the Internet. Driver said he was trying to toss a cleat to Stephen Wagner but a woman wrestled it from the boy.

So Driver turned to Twitter to find Stephen, arranged to meet him and greeted the boy with some autographed Packers gear, including a pair of cleats.

WTMJ-TV reports that Stephen's mom, Mary Wagner, says the woman in the video called to apologize. She explained she thought Driver was throwing the cleat to her. The Ripon family says no hard feelings.

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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Buccaneers close deal with first-round pick Doug Martin

Monday June 04, 2012 - 6:17 PM

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed first-round pick Doug Martin to a five-year contract.

The Boise State running back was the 31st selection in the draft and is expected to share the workload as a rookie with third-year pro LeGarrette Blount.

Martin rushed for 3,431 yards and 43 touchdowns while averaging more than five yards per carry. He also had 67 receptions for 715 yards and four TDs.

He ran for 1,290 yards and 16 TDs as a senior at Boise State, capping his career with a school-record 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Arizona State in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas.

Blount rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a rookie two years ago but has yet to develop into the type of every-down running back that first-year coach Greg Schiano seeks for his offense.

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NFL Merchandise

Mark Sanchez invites Tim Tebow to SoCal 'Jets West' passing camp

Posted: 03:50 PM ET June 04, 2012

By Will Brinson | Senior NFL Blogger

Just a couple BFFs stretching it out. (US Presswire)
Not sure about you guys, but my mom used to make me invite over everyone when I had a party as a kid. She's fair like that. And she'd probably be very impressed with Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, who invited Tim Tebow to his offseason passing camp.

Sanchez holds an annual "Jets West" passing camp in Southern California and according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily-News, invited Tebow.

"It's just so important to spend time together as much as possible," third-string quarterback Greg McElroy, attending for the second time, said. "It's a good opportunity for us to get out of our element and do something social as a group with the benefit of working and great weather. It's really a good time for us. It's a lot of football and a lot of fun."

A lot gets made out of the Tebow-Sanchez dynamic, because it's a) the offseason, b) the Jets and c) Tebow. Everyone knew when Tebow was traded to the Jets that it's going to be non-stop media coverage up until Sanchez screwed up in a game and gets yanked for Tebow, creating a legitimate "controversy."

But the reality is that both Tebow and Sanchez are grown adults who understand the off-field dynamic of what it takes to keep the press hounds as at bay as humanly possible. Sanchez can't invite all his teammates to join him in California and not invite Tebow. And Tebow would need a really good excuse to skip the session.

So instead, we've got two teammates going to practice football together in the offseason. Take away the name value and there's not a lot here to freak out about.

Tags: Greg McElroy, Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, New York Jets, NFL

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No smoking gun but plenty enough to shoot holes through Saints' case

Sunday June 03, 2012 - 2:46 PM
Mike Freeman

Vilma (right) has allegedly been involved in bounties since his Miami days. (Getty Images)

The ledger.

It is not a visually impressive document. Two sources described it to CBSSports.com but gave conflicting accounts of its significance. One said the ledger has dates, amounts -- sometimes in the thousands of dollars -- that chronicle the Saints' bounty system. It's proof, this source said, that the team ran a system that rewarded players for illegal hits. Some of the Saints called the person who kept the document "The Bookkeeper" after the character from the movie The Untouchables.

Another source who has seen the ledger said it contains errors and doesn't have exact proof that players were paid to injure. Yet the person, a strong doubter of the NFL's case against the Saints, admitted the ledger "looks bad for the Saints."

It isn't a smoking gun, but the ledger -- and other recent evidence -- is another piece of a picture showing Saints guilt.

And this is what some of the latest news to come out about the Saints demonstrates overall. There continues to be a piling of circumstantial and specific evidence of wrongdoing.

All of this continues to show one thing: The Saints are busted. Now there will be people who dispute this, and that's fine, but the problem remains the Saints players and their supporters keep fighting like none of this information matters.

The players keep saying: Show us the evidence. There's already plenty. There's so much that if this were a court of law, the Saints would have been denied bail and Shawshanked down to the cell block.

The recent news includes two other things besides the ledger, one recent, one a blast from the past that has been forgotten, but has great significance.

The producer and the voicemail: Filmmaker Sean Pamphilon may be a rabid self-promoter -- check that, there's no maybe -- but the voicemail he provided to CBSSports.com RapidReporter Larry Holder is one of the more interesting pieces of proof in the bounty case. Yes, proof.

Because on the voicemail, Drew Brees acknowledges he knows of that vicious Gregg Williams audiotape, when all along Brees has played innocent to all aspects of the bounty scandal. This leads to a fair question: What did Brees know about the bounties and when did he know it? He knew about the tape, clearly, so why can't people assume he know about other things, like the ledger?

"Just be truthful," Pamphilon told Holder. "Don't worry about how this affects your marketing campaign. Don't worry how it's going to affect you in the public arena. ... He is supposed to be an advocate for player health safety. I want him to do his job."

The ledger, the tape…again ... not smoking guns, but pivotal and circumstantial pieces of the larger picture.

The booster.

Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has sued Goodell for defamation, claiming he has never been involved in a pay-to-injure scheme. What almost everyone has forgotten is that this isn't the first time Vilma has been accused of such a thing.

Yahoo Sports reported on notorious booster Nevin Shapiro, who spoke at length about Vilma.

Shapiro said he gave Vilma, when at the University of Miami, over $2,000 for bounties. One, Shapiro said, was a $1,000 hit on Florida State quarterback Chris Rix in 2002 that led to a personal foul penalty. Shapiro claimed he offered $5,000 to any Miami player who knocked Rix out of the game.

Shapiro is a cad, liar and criminal. Believe him at your own peril, but in the Yahoo story, he offers explicit details, and comes off as believable (and bitter). There was also this from Rix himself.

"I do remember a few late hits -- some of them were called, some of them weren't," Rix told Larry Brown Sports. "I remember one specifically in the 2003 BCS Orange Bowl game, after I had thrown a pass [Vilma] came in and led with his hand. He got it inside my facemask and gave me a black eye. I don't remember that being called as a late hit. Other ones were at the bottom of piles, yelling expletives at you and trying to get their hands in your facemask -- get your eye. I'm not the first football player that's happened to and I'm not the last. That happens a lot in those rivalry games.

"If I saw [Vilma], I really don't know what I'd say. I'd say 'I know you got offered $5,000 to take me out of the game. While you got a lot of good hits on me, you notice you never took me out of the game -- I always finished. So I'm sorry you never got the full $5,000 check for taking me out of the game.'"

The ledger. The tape. The booster. None of this is that exact bull's-eye, but there sure is a great deal of recent smoke, and anyone who believes otherwise, especially the Saints, isn't paying attention.

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Arbitrator backs NFL in bounty case, affirms Goodell's disciplinary power

Monday June 04, 2012 - 11:00 AM

Roger Goodell's disciplinary powers are being challenged by the NFLPA. (AP)

NEW YORK -- An arbitrator ruled Monday that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has the authority to discipline New Orleans Saints players for their role in a bounty system.

The NFL Players Association challenged Goodell's power to impose penalties for what the league says was a three-year bounty program that targeted specific players. Stephen Burbank, a University of Pennsylvania law professor, took only five days to determine that Goodell has the power to punish the players under the collective bargaining agreement reached last August to end the lockout. The news was first reported by CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman

Goodell suspended Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the entire 2012 season and teammate Will Smith for four games. Former Saints defensive end Anthony Hargrove, now with Green Bay, was suspended for eight games, while linebacker Scott Fujita, now with Cleveland, was docked three games.

Those players have appealed the suspensions. And the players' union said Monday it expects to appeal Burbank's decision because it believes salary cap violations are involved in the payment. That would give Burbank the authority to rule on penalizing any players involved.

Burbank did, however, retain temporary jurisdiction on Hargrove's role and asked Goodell for more information on Hargrove's "alleged participation."

Burbank "invited the commissioner to clarify the precise basis for his discipline of Mr. Hargrove who, among other things, was found to have lied to the league's investigators and obstructed their investigation," the NFL said in a statement.

The union said in a statement it "believes that the players are entitled to neutral arbitration of these issues under the CBA and will continue to fight for that principle and to protect the fair due process rights of all players." The NFLPA noted Burbank wrote that "nothing in this opinion is intended to convey a view about the underlying facts or the appropriateness of the discipline imposed."

The union filed another grievance with a different arbitrator, Shyam Das, contending the new CBA prohibits Goodell from punishing players for any conduct before the CBA was signed. The league's investigation showed the bounty program ran from 2009-11.

Das has yet to rule on that grievance, which also seeks to have player appeals heard by Art Shell and Ted Cottrell, who are jointly appointed by the league and union to review discipline handed out for on-field conduct.

The league and union have spent plenty of time before arbitrators and judges this offseason, with two other major cases pending.

Vilma has sued Goodell for defamation in a U.S. District Court in New Orleans and Goodell has been given until July 5 to respond to the action.

The players also have sued the league in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, saying the owners colluded in the uncapped 2010 season to have a secret salary cap. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith has said such collusion could have cost players $1 billion in wages.

That lawsuit stems, in part, from the NFL stripping the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys of salary cap room in 2012 and `13. The Redskins had their cap reduced $36 million over the two years and the Cowboys lost $10 million in cap space.

Both teams filed a grievance and lost.

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DEA drug bust yields money, drugs and 2010 Packers Super Bowl ring

Posted: 08:30 AM ET June 05, 2012

By Ryan Wilson | NFL Blogger

The Drug Enforcement Agency must conduct hundreds of drug raids a year. In one such raid, the DEA arrested several members of a drug-trafficking operation with ties to Mexico and the haul was what you might expect: heroin, weapons and jewelry -- including a 2010 Green Bay Packers Super Bowl ring that a team executive had previously reported stolen, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.

It was unclear how the traffickers came to have the ring in their possession, but it's the third such championship-ring-related story we've seen in recent weeks. First, former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor had his ring up for auction (Charlie Sheen, it turns out, didn't end up buying it), and it was news when a Packers employee in the team's facilities and fields department pawned her Super Bowl ring.

If you're in the market for such a possession, good news: a quick eBay search turns up several Super Bowl rings although, as you might expect, they don't come cheap. A 2004 Patriots ring is currently $8,500, and a 1993 Cowboys ring will set you back $45,000.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnNFL on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our Pick-6 Podcast and NFL newsletter. You can follow Ryan Wilson on Twitter here: @ryanwilson_07.

Tags: Ryan Wilson, Green Bay Packers, NFL

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Saturday, June 2, 2012

Nick Mangold's sister to compete in Olympics, but Nick won't be there

Posted: 09:46 AM ET June 01, 2012

By Josh Katzowitz | NFL Blogger

This is Holley Mangold, and she apparently out-lifts her brother, Nick. (Getty)
Normally if you had to place a bet on whether Nick Mangold could beat up his sister, you'd put the entire mortgage on the Jets center triumphing with relative ease. In this case, though, you might lose your house.

Mangold's sister, Holley, outweighs him by more than 40 pounds (she's 5-foot-9 and 350 pounds, and he's 6-4 and 307), and oh yeah, she's going to the Summer Olympics as a member of the USA women's weightlifting squad. And she talks trash.

"Has he gotten to a Super Bowl?” she recently asked the LA Times. “That is the question. This is the Super Bowl of my sport.”

Indeed, Nick Mangold probably doesn't want to mess with Holley, who regularly out-lifts him in the weight room (to be fair, though, Nick isn't trying to make the Olympics. He's trying to protect Mark Sanchez and, soon after him, Tim Tebow).

Maybe Nick doesn't enjoy that notion, because as the paper notes, he declined repeated requests to talk about Holley.

Nick Mangold also apparently isn't traveling to London to see his sister in action. It occurs during Jets training camp, but I imagine the franchise would make an exception for Mangold to miss a couple of days. In fact, coach Rex Ryan said he's going to try to change Mangold's mind.

“Yeah, I will [try]. But it's not going to happen,” Ryan told reporters Thursday. “Once Nick is locked in ... I don't think he realized this is an amazing thing, it really is. How many people are good enough to go to the Olympics and compete against the world's best, and represent our country? I think it's an incredible opportunity for her and him as well.”

And as far as missing some key practice time? Ryan -- who says he was “shocked” when Mangold said he wasn't going -- isn't worried about it.

“I just think Nick is a smart guy,” Ryan said. “He would understand our offense, all of that kind of stuff. So it is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see your sister do something that is absolutely incredible: competing against the world's best in a weightlifting competition I think would be incredible. ... I just wanted to make sure, ‘Hey, look, I know how important this season is, this game is, our football team is, but there's other things that are equally as important, maybe more important in the big picture of things.' ”

Here's what Mangold said the other day: “God bless Rex because he did offer it to me, but I don't think I can leave my guys in the middle of training camp. But we'll figure out a way to watch, and I'm real excited and real proud for her. Somehow, some way, I'll watch it. But I don't know if I can do the jump over the pond in the middle of training camp.”

Here's hoping Mangold changes his mind. Because, really, family is more important than a couple days of practice, even if you have a sister who could totally dominate you in the weightroom.

Tags: Mark Sanchez, Nick Mangold, Tim Tebow, New York Jets, NFL

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Jets' Rex Ryan regrets making Super Bowl guarantee

Posted: 09:01 PM ET June 01, 2012

By Ryan Wilson | NFL Blogger

'I think if it gave an opponent fuel to the fire then obviously that was a mistake.' - Rex Ryan (Getty Images)
Rex Ryan likes to talk. This is no secret. In fact, you could almost set your watch (assuming people still wore them for non-decorative reasons) to his annual proclamations about this being the year the Jets would win the Super Bowl.

He wasn't far off his first two seasons in New York; in 2009 and 2010, the team made it as far as the AFC Conference Championship Game. Things fell apart in 2011, however; the Jets ended the year on a three-game losing streak, including an embarrassing Week 17 loss in Miami that left them at 8-8 and out of the playoffs.

Days later, Ryan vowed to fix his team, and despite the disappointing finish, he sounded as confident as ever about the Jets' immediate future.

“I plan on getting another [Super Bowl ring], and I plan on getting it quickly,” he said in February.

After taking a few months to reflect on his tenure in New York, and perhaps more specifically, how the Jets have fallen short in each of his three years, Ryan sounds as if he'll measure his words carefully going forward. Theoretically, anyway.

During an appearance on ESPN New York with Michael Kay, Ryan was asked about the guarantees he had made in previous seasons.

“I don't know what I accomplished out of it," Ryan said via SportsRadioInterviews.com. "I think if it gave an opponent fuel to the fire then obviously that was a mistake. If it put undue pressure on our team then that was a mistake. Certainly I didn't wanna do it, I wanted to put -- coming off back-to-back championship games all that's left is the Super Bowl. And I thought by guaranteeing that, it would put the arrows on me.

"Now granted it did, but it also put arrows on our players and I didn't want that. If it was gonna come down, it would come down on me only. That was what I thought would happen, and that didn't happen. It was shot on some of our players and obviously shot at me as well, where it should have been. But it wasn't directed at me, and I think that was my mistake by saying what I said.”

Translation: Mark Sanchez was an innocent bystander caught in the cross(bow)fire. So, naturally, the Jets traded for Tim Tebow.

Which brings us to this: no Jets-related conversation would be complete without the obligatory Tebow name-check, so here you go: Ryan offered up a variation on an answer we've all heard a million times about Tebow, NFL Quarterback: "He's had his moments where he's looked really impressive and there's other times when maybe the defense has had a better day.”

Tags: Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, Ryan Wilson, New York Jets, NFL

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Rams' proposal to upgrade Edward Jones Dome is rejected

Friday June 01, 2012 - 10:33 AM

Rams owner has been non-committal about the team's future if the dome isn't improved. (AP)

ST. LOUIS -- The agency that operates the Edward Jones Dome on Friday rejected an improvement plan for the 17-year-old stadium proposed by the St. Louis Rams.

The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission said in a brief statement that it believes it is in "the best interest of the community and the Rams to engage in meaningful dialogue over the next two weeks, and looks forward to the opportunity to do so at the earliest convenience of Rams management."

Arbitration begins if no agreement is reached by June 15, and the arbitration process could last through the end of the year.

"The public has now seen both proposals," said Jeff Rainford, chief of staff for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. "The two are dramatically different. We're probably headed where everybody thought all along, to arbitration."

Under the terms of the 30-year lease between the commission and the Rams, the dome must be among the top quarter of all 31 NFL stadiums before the start of the 2015 season. If not, the team can break the lease and potentially become the second NFL team to leave St. Louis in a quarter of a century.

In a statement, Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff said the team agrees on the need for further discussion. "We believe this would be a productive next step in the first-tier process," he said.

Neither side has provided specifics of how the worthiness of the stadium upgrade will be assessed, but Rainford has said that the commission must simply prove the dome is top tier in each of several different categories. While some are subjective, others are not, including the size of the scoreboard.

The dome, which opened in 1995 after the team relocated from Los Angeles, was built with money from city, St. Louis County and Missouri taxpayers.

The commission's rejection was not unexpected given the wide discrepancy between the Rams' plan and one submitted by it in February. That plan called for $124 million in improvements such as a bigger scoreboard and better club seating. It also would have required the Rams to pay 52 percent of the cost. Taxpayers would have to approve funding for the remaining 48 percent.

The Rams' counterproposal submitted May 1 was far more elaborate, calling for a new roof with a sliding panel, replacing much of the brick exterior with a glass front, even re-routing a nearby street.

The Rams did not provide a cost estimate but Rainford said the plan would cost about $700 million and the dome, which also hosts conventions, would have to be closed for renovation for up to three years, potentially costing the city $500 million in convention revenue.

The Rams did not intend for their proposal to be publicly released. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster released it against the team's wishes on May 14 following open records requests from media, including The Associated Press, which contended that since taxpayers are paying $720 million over 30 years to fund the dome, records related to it should be open.

Owner Stan Kroenke has been non-committal about the team's future if the dome isn't improved. He is a Missouri native who became minority owner when Georgia Frontiere brought the Rams to her hometown of St. Louis.

But Kroenke owns an estate in Malibu, Calif., and unsuccessfully sought to purchase baseball's Dodgers, leading to speculation that the Rams could head west after the 2014 season without a significant dome upgrade.

St. Louis has been through this before. The football Cardinals moved to Arizona after the 1987 season when owner Bill Bidwill was unable to get a stadium of his own. The football and baseball Cardinals shared old Busch Stadium.

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Filmmaker implies Fujita, Brees said he should release Williams audio tape

Posted: 11:59 AM ET June 01, 2012

By Josh Katzowitz | NFL Blogger

Sean Pamphilon writes that he didn't go rogue in releasing the Gregg Williams tape. (Getty Images)
When Sean Pamphilon released the audio tape of former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams telling his team to kill Frank Gore's head and target Michael Crabtree's knee it caused a bit of a storm.

Some couldn't believe Williams' words (Wade Phillips said it made him sick) and some couldn't believe Pamphilon had the audacity to release it. With so much emotion swirling around the Saints' bounty program the audio continued what has been al almost surreal storyline.

But Steve Gleason, who's suffering from ALS and was working with Pamphilon on a documentary, felt betrayed by Pamphilon's release. That's because according to Gleason Pamphilon didn't have permission to air it.

Pamphilon responded to that by saying the release of the tape was of the ultmost importance because, “parents of children playing football MUST pay attention to the influence of men who will sacrifice their kids for W's.”

Now Pamphilon has responded once again. He wrote on his personal website that he had consulted with Gleason and Scott Fujita before releasing the audio. While Gleason didn't want to risk hurting his relationship to the Saints franchise, Fujita implied that releasing the tape was the right thing to do.

Pamphilon said he ultimately decided not to release it out of respect for Gleason but that he also felt Fujita understood this was a landmark moment.

“It was apparent to me that all during this time Scott Fujita felt this audio would address a public health concern,” Pamphilon wrote. “He knew it was quite significant, but he was clearly torn because of the Gleason's personal concerns and quite understandably, he had considerable love and affection for his former teammate, who was now living with ALS. I empathized with him because neither Steve, nor myself was truly willing to stand down from our positions. It was as if Scott was hopelessly stuck between the irresistible force and immovable object. And Steve and I were destined to collide with full force.”

After Pamphilon decided to drop the idea of releasing it Fujita told the NFLPA about the tape. Pamphilon claims he felt vulnerable about the entire issue.

National Football League (NFL) Football - A League Of Its Own

Don't be fooled by Matt Ryan's lack of postseason success

Friday June 01, 2012 - 6:43 AM
Pete Prisco

Ryan's playoff failures have earned him the snarky nickname 'Mr. Regular Season.' (US Presswire)

Regular-season king. Can't cut it in the playoffs. He's oh-for-three as a playoff quarterback.

They said those things once about Peyton Manning.

They're saying them now about Matt Ryan.

Manning proved his skeptics wrong in a big way.

Ryan will, as well.

Manning went on to win a Super Bowl and four MVPs, but as Ryan readies for his fifth season as the starting quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, you would be hard-pressed to find many who would dare mention him in the same sentence with Manning.

Postseason failure is to his regular-season canvas like a big handful of mud thrown at a fancy painting.

It takes away the pretty.

In his four seasons with the Falcons, Ryan has amassed a 43-19 record, led the Falcons to three playoff berths and thrown 95 touchdown passes against 46 interceptions. But he's 0-3 in the playoffs, and in those games he has three touchdown passes, four interceptions and didn't throw for 200 yards in any of those losses.

That has earned him the wise-ass nickname of "Mr. Regular Season."

"I don't think about it too much," Ryan said this week when I asked him about the playoff failures. "My focus is to try to become a better player, doing the things I need to do. It's not about winning playoff games. It's about winning championships."

When a quarterback doesn't get it done in the playoffs, it's on him. That's the nature of the beast. Forget everything else that goes wrong. And when it does happen, it often becomes something that gets blown out of proportion. Don't you remember what they said about Manning after losing his first three playoff games?

"It's the NFL," Ryan said. "They make too much of everything."

It's hard not to when your offense fails to score a point in a postseason loss, which is the lasting image of the Falcons' 2011 season. The Giants beat them 24-2 and then went on to win the Super Bowl. It was the second successive season the Falcons lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion, losing at home to the Packers after the 2010 season. Losing to the eventual champion doesn't make the pain any less for Ryan.

"There's no consolation," he said. "One team has success, and 31 others have failure. That's the way it is in this league."

Only five quarterbacks threw more touchdown passes than Ryan in 2011 when he threw 29. He also threw for a career-best 4,177 yards, but none of that mattered after his third playoff failure.

So what to do about it?

For starters, the Falcons will have a new offense. Coordinator Mike Mularkey left to become head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and his replacement is former Jaguars coordinator Dirk Koetter.

The Jaguars were known as a run-heavy team under Koetter, but that was because that's the way then-coach Jack Del Rio wanted it. The Falcons are expected to be more vertical with Ryan throwing to Julio Jones and Roddy White on the outside.

I recently spent 18 holes on a golf course in the same cart with Koetter and, aside from our shanking shots here and there to ruin any chance of winning the tournament, we spent a lot of time talking about Ryan.

Koetter raved about him.

The feeling is mutual.

"He's a great teacher," Ryan said. "There are some different concepts from what we did in the past, but we just have to focus on getting better every day. We did some good things last year, but we didn't do anything great."

Ryan has always been a gym rat, the kind of quarterback who lives at the facility and works out like players at other positions. That's a lot like Manning, whom he has been compared to in the past.

To help prepare for this season, Ryan changed the way he trained. He said he dropped four or five percentage points of body fat while adding five-six pounds of weight.

"It's good, solid weight," Ryan said. "I feel strong in practice. It will help with the no-huddle when we go to it."

That no-huddle offense seemed to be when the Falcons shined in 2011. Koetter plans to use more of it, and Ryan likes that idea. It puts more on his plate, calling plays at the line of scrimmage, but it also gives the Falcons a chance to dictate tempo. With Jones and White outside, why not let it fly?

"I love it," Ryan said. "It's something we've had success here with the past four years."

With the new move to open things up some, and Ryan now in his fifth season, with Jones and White and Tony Gonzalez, expect Ryan to bounce back from his latest playoff failure to put up his best numbers yet.

That won't be good enough to get the doubters off his back. Quarterbacks are defined by playoff success, and Ryan knows that as well as anyone. He's just not going to be consumed by it.

But the idea that he isn't any good because of the playoff frustration is just stupidity.

They said the same things about Peyton Manning. How did that turn out?

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NFL has copy of ledger detailing Saints' bounty earnings

Posted: 06:37 PM ET June 01, 2012

By Ryan Wilson | NFL Blogger

The plot thickens in the never-ending bounty saga. (Getty Images/US PRESSWIRE)
The intrigue surrounding the Saints bounty scandal continues. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has punished the organization from top to bottom, suspended linebacker Jonathan Vilma has sued Goodell for defamation, and on Friday, documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon implied that New Orleans players Drew Brees and Scott Fujita (now with the Browns) said that he should to release the damning audio recordings of then-defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

And now there's this: The NFL has a copy of a ledger detailing weekly bounty earnings of Saints players, CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman has confirmed. The ledger shows both money earned from "cart-offs" ($1,000 payouts) and "whacks" ($400), as well as deductions for "mental errors" ($100), Yahoo.com's Jason Cole reported. Sources told Cole that the NFL presented the ledger during meetings with some of those involved in the scandal.

In one meeting, two entries from the 2009 season were highlighted, Cole writes. Facing the Bills on Sept. 27, 2009, "there were three $1,000 awards. ... And, in a game against the New York Giants on Oct. 18, there was a $1,000 bounty awarded for one cart-off."

It gets worse, allegedly: an opposing player who had been carted off and landed on injured reserve had an exclamation point next to his name in the ledger. "The players knew what their actions were for," the source said.

More via Cole's report:

"The players clearly knew what was going on each week with the payments," a source told Yahoo! Sports. In fact, multiple sources admitted that Saints defensive players would regularly encourage teammates to put money earned from the bounty system back into the pool. It's unclear if that was to increase the potential winnings or eventually use the money for some other purpose.

NFLPA spokesman George Atallah told Cole via text that the NFL "made mention" of the ledger during a meeting with the union in April but that the NFLPA hadn't yet seen it.

"I guess it either qualifies as evidence, which means fair due process was violated because [the] players didn't get to see it before they were punished or it is not hard evidence because they didn't get to see it and cross examine the validity of that piece of evidence," Atallah wrote to Cole.

Goodell said Thursday that bounties in the NFL shouldn't be an issue going forward. We were skeptical in light of several NFLPA grievances filed against Goodell as well as Vilma's lawsuit. Now, however, it seems the commissioner may have been onto something.

Tags: Drew Brees, Jonathan Vilma, Scott Fujita, Ryan Wilson, New Orleans Saints, NFL

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How to Become an NFL Player Part 1

Existing contracts create headaches for teams trying to get deals done

Friday June 01, 2012 - 2:36 PM
Pat Kirwan

Ray Rice might have to settle for two years of franchise tags from the Ravens. (Getty Images)

May and June are protest months for veteran players with contract issues. The market changed and guys feel they are underpaid. Others were franchised and want long-term deals at franchise values or higher. It's time for certain players to voice their displeasure by staying home.

It is hard for the average fan to have empathy for millionaires looking for more millions. As Bill Cowher told me many times in the past three years, the one thing that rings true as he watches the NFL from the sideline is, "Don't overreact as a coach to protest season." That's good advice for any coach. With rare exceptions, sooner or later the players will show up because they simply can't leave money on the table. As I like to say, "Cash is undefeated."

But the front office executives responsible for getting deals done have to work around the contracts signed around the league that cause stumbling blocks when trying to secure their own players in the right deal. Compounding the problem is the fact that franchise tag values went down in the new CBA, because they are now determined by averaging the past five years instead of the top five salaries from last year.

Here's a look at some player contracts causing some of the biggest problems for teams.

Existing contract: Chargers S Eric Weddle, signed on July 29, 2011
Players affected: Dashon Goldson (49ers), Michael Griffin (Titans)
The issue: Weddle signed a five-year contract with a $13 million signing bonus and an average over the first three years of $8.33 million. The franchise tag value dropped from $8.8 million to $6.2 million under the new CBA, and clubs aren't heading toward the Weddle deal but rather the new franchise number.

There are only two safeties (Troy Polamalu, Eric Berry) with a higher three-year average than Weddle but players like Goldson and Griffin believe they are better than Weddle or at least deserve the same money.

Weddle, Goldson and Griffin were all drafted in 2007. Griffin was chosen in the first round, Weddle the second and Goldson the fourth. Weddle has 13 interceptions, 39 passes defended and four sacks in 61 starts. Griffin has 17 interceptions, 44 passes defended and two sacks in 73 starts. Goldson has 11 interceptions, 24 passes defended and three sacks in 48 starts.

They are all in the same ballpark when it comes to production but probably not in contract terms simply because it's a year later.

Existing contract: Panthers RB DeAngelo Williams, signed on July 29, 2011; Texans RB Arian Foster, signed on March 5, 2012
Players affected: Matt Forte (Bears), Ray Rice (Ravens)
The issue: We keep hearing that Forte and Rice want something close to Adrian Peterson or Chris Johnson money. I doubt any team in the next 10 years will give a running back a deal with a $13 million average over the first three years like Peterson ($13.76M) or Johnson ($14.99M).

The deals for Foster ($10 million average for the first three years) and Williams ($9 million) are probably too rich for the Bears and Ravens considering the franchise tag is now $7.7 million, down from $9.6 million.

Both teams are looking at the franchise tag for two years at a grand total of $16.94 million (two-year average, $8.47 million), which is a lot cheaper than the $25 million Carolina dished out in the first two years of the Williams deal, or the $24 million in the Texans' deal with Foster.

Existing contract: Panthers DE Charles Johnson, signed on July 29, 2011
Player affected: Cliff Avril (Lions)
The issue: Johnson got a $30 million signing bonus and his deal averages $15.33 million over the first three years, $2 million more than Julius Peppers in Chicago.

Avril is signed under a franchise tag that dropped from $13 million in 2011 to $10.6 million in 2012. Avril will point to his production compared to Johnson -- in six fewer games, he has the same number of sacks (30) and nine more forced fumbles -- and argue that he deserves the same deal.

Existing contract: Patriots QB Tom Brady, signed on Sept. 10, 2010
Player affected: Drew Brees (Saints)
The issue: Brady's contract averages $18 million for five years with $19 million per over the first three years. Brees is on a franchise tag at $16.37 million and is believed to be in search of a deal in range of $23 million.

Peyton Manning's last deal with the Colts had a $23.4 million average over the first three years but he was released and is now under a contract that averages $19 million (but could balloon if he stays healthy). Between Brady and even Eli Manning ($16 million average for five years), Brees could crack the $20 million mark but not much more than that. Otherwise the franchise tag is the answer. The critical date is July 16. If a long-term deal isn't done by then, there will not be a long-term deal.

Existing contract: Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald, signed on Aug. 22, 2011
Players affected: Dwayne Bowe (Chiefs), Mike Wallace (Steelers)
The issue: Fitzgerald's deal averages $17.16 million over the first three years, which is nearly double what Bowe or Wallace might expect. The franchise tag that Bowe is under is $9.4 million and he would be lucky to get the deal DeSean Jackson signed in Philadelphia ($9.4 million average over five years, $10 million signing bonus, $15 million guaranteed). Wallace is only a restricted free agent and doesn't even have the leverage of the franchise tag, which probably means he waits another year.

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