Mike Brown is an enigma wrapped in a pile of stupid defecated on by incompetance.
Apparently not. Joseph to the Texans. That secondary just got 5000% better. Then again, Jonathan Joseph’s grandmother probably would have made it 300% better by herself.
golf clap
The Bears trade TE Greg Olsen to the Panthers for a 3rd round pick in 2012.
Frackin’ Bears. Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith (PTEW!) and the rest of the jackasses at Halas Hall have done what was once thought impossible–they’ve turned me into a Packers fan.
The Bears traded TE Greg Olsen to Carolina for a draft pick and a player (apparently to be named later – I haven’t seen who he is). The team also released Brandon Manumaleuna and signed Matt Spaeth.
I thought Manumaleuna was pretty bad at the beginning of last season, but picked it up in the second half. Despite that, he was way the heck overpaid. I like Olsen, he’s a good receiving TE but he also seems like he needs to take the next step and hasn’t done that since being drafted. There are knocks on his blocking, but I think he’s done an OK job – there’s certainly room for improvement.
The Bears still have Kellan Davis, who’s a big dude and has had a few big plays here and there. I like him, too and I’d like to see him develop into a quality TE. I’m not as familiar with Spaeth, but the two would make a good combo, I hope.
Now with all this going on with tight ends, it still doesn’t seem like the Bears are doing anything about their line, linebackers, corners, or wide recievers. I’d argue that they need more help on the line than anywhere else, but I also wouldn’t mind seeing a WR or corner come in. A really good one, not a mid round “work hard team guy” type.
The Bears also signed punter Adam Podlesh to replace Brad Maynard, who they just said bye to a few days ago. I hope Podlesh steps up and does the job in Chicago. I kind of feel for the guy, so I’ll root for him.
Saints shipped Reggie Bush to Miami, second time we’ve traded them a Heisman winner. Can’t seem to find any mention on what we got for him, though.
AND…the Saints signed Darren Sproles to a four year deal for the same money they would have paid Bush for 1 year. Same type of player, but seems to have room for improvement in hanging on to the ball. Still, I’m liking the move. Reggie will get his chance to be the man in Miami, which just wasn’t going to happen in New Orleans, and the Saints free up some cap room without really losing much with the Sproles signing.
Big day for the Eagles. Kolb, as mentioned, is gone, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is in. He and Asante Samuel make up the greatest hit or miss pair of corners ever. They’re a threat to pick off any pass thrown their way, but if you complete the pass to a WR they’ll probably miss the tackle and give up a TD. Still, if Allen returns healthy (all reports say he will) that’s the best ball-hawking secondary in the league. Those three will combine for over 20 picks next season, book it.
Jason Babin is old, but he’s got fresh legs. I don’t like giving a 31 year old a 5 year deal, but the reports are that the Eagles front loaded it to have an out if age catches up to him quickly. So while I don’t agree with the move, he and Trent Cole combined for like 22.5 sacks last year, and it’s hard to argue with that.
The Eagles are also reportedly going to sign Vince Young tomorrow once he clears waivers.
…
I mean, Andy Reid and Co. are certified QB magicians at this point. Straight up sorcerous warlock shit. But, it’s Vince Young. That’s going to be a challenge. My hope is that Young isn’t any less capable than McNabb was as a quarterback, and the Eagles turned him into a borderline Hall of Famer. And McNabb did that with not even half the offensive talent the team has now. So, I hate the move, but it’s the type of gamble that could end up netting them another Pro Bowler+2nd rounder trade in two years. Worth the relatively low risk. And if Vick does go down, the style of offense remains entirely the same, which was a significant problem last season in the shuffling between Vick and Kolb. They’re such polar opposites in terms of QB style that the offense lost a lot of momentum in the transitions. Young won’t have that problem to such a degree.
And he’s just a “winner” right? Right? Fuck.
There’s a weird rumor floating around that the Browns made a big signing but aren’t announcing it until Friday or Saturday. Why, I don’t know. Ray Edwards I guess?
Well players can’t officially sign before tomorrow anyway, so maybe they find some value it keeping it under wraps until it’s actually done? I know some pundits were concerned that a player could make a commitment to a team and then pull a switcharoo and sign with someone else after the Friday deadline.
The Eagles’ still have a couple moves that need to be made. I’m looking forward to another interesting day. Kinda wish this was a yearly thing, it’s been a lot of fun being glued to Twitter for the last three days.
Johnathon Joseph signed a HUGE deal with the Texans. Fuck. He isn’t worth the $10 million a year they are paying him due to his injury history but when healthy he’s damn good.
Passing on the Bengals just got a little easier. So now…Pacman is the other starter? Brandon Ghee? Morgan Trent? Shit.
Marvin Lewis is a dead man walking.
I have to say the Panthers are doing their part to surround Newton with options. With Olsen and Shockey at TE; Steve Smith back in the fold; Gettis and LaFell heading into their second years, and one of the best backfields in the league, the offense should be much better than last year. Maybe the best difference is the new OC. Jeff Davidson was one of the least interesting, imaginative play callers I’ve ever seen. Chudzinski should be a nice upgrade there. It’s all up to Cam now…
I like Shockey, but you’ll be lucky to get 8 games out of him this year. Guy is always injured.
Speaking of always injured, Frank Gore is going to hold out for a long-term contract.
He’s 28, and has played all 16 games in only one of his six seasons, currently coming off a broken hip. Given the long track record of RBs hitting a wall at around that age, what is he thinking? There is one year left on his contract, and that matches how much is left in his body.
In other 49ers injury-related news, Michael Crabtree is made of glass, apparently. :rolleyes:
First off, I have to say that this whole free agency thing sucks. Not because there’s anything wrong with the system or all the action, but because I just started a new job Monday and the dam breaks at the exact time when I’m unable to enjoy, indulge and discuss to the degree that I’m inclined. I want to be rolling around in this stuff like a pig in shit, and I simply can’t. If this has happened a bare week ago I’d have been sitting at the computer with 10 windows open and NFL Network on the flat screen while I rocked back and forth like an autistic posting updates and replies to this thread faster than a meth addled Rhesus monkey.
I’m a little bummed that all this Bears action happened before I could finish my team summary discussion. I have some quick thoughts,
I’m surprised the Bears moved Olsen. Its a sound decision and I think they got a pretty fair price for him considering he only has one year left on his deal, a 3rd round pick is a very nice commodity to have and the Bears are going to need to get younger. Olsen simply wasn’t used to his potential in Chicago and while I think he could break out in Carolina, that 3rd round pick will have more value for the Bears than Olsen would in his one last season here. Obviously the odds of him resigning were slim if Martz sticks around. The Kellen Davis situation has a lot to do with this I think. He’s a young player who’s been steadily improving and has the potential to be almost as dynamic as Olsen and more well rounded, the Bears were struggling to get him playing time and now that Olsen and Manumaleuna are gone Davis and Spaeth make a much more logical combination for this team. Davis, Spaeth and a 3rd round pick plus a bunch of free cap space is a dramatically better situation than before. The Olsen and Manumaleuna contracts could allow them to sign one more pricey free agent at WR or DB.
The punter signing is a bit weird. I was one of the most vocal about thee fact that Maynard sucked and his ouster is a solid 3 years over due, and I have very little knowledge of Podlesh’s skills. On paper he looks good, and he’s have a nice run with the Jags but I honestly couldn’t have named the Jags punter if you’d have asked me at this time yesterday. That’s not to say that I am opposed to his signing, but I’m pretty surprised he got a 5 year deal (!!!). I was personally hoping for Steve Weatherford, he’s an Illini guy and familiar with the weather conditions here and he was occasionally elite. Not sure if Podlesh is going to be as dynamic, perhaps he’ll be more consistent. I’ll concede this, the Bears Special Teams almost always make the right call on these things. Set aside the misplaced loyalty to Maynard and they are batting a thousand. I question the big Robbie Gould extension a few years back and sure enough he’s outplayed it. Maybe Podlesh is in for the same thing.
I thought I’d pop back in to mention that Brad Smith chose the Bills over the Bears yesterday. I’m unsure what to make of that. Presumably the Bears were looking to pay Smith as a Special Teamer/Backup WR while the Bills perhaps were willing to pay him as a #2 or #3 WR or backup QB. The Bills appear to have an offense more readily suited to his having an impact quickly as a nearly full time player and that might have been Smith’s priority, obviously winning wasn’t at the top off his list. Best of luck to him there.
There are rumors that the Bears are looking at Roy Williams to come in at WR. Hopefully after work I can sit down and bang out a thorough WR/TE summary, I’ll have many thoughts on this Roy Williams speculation.
ETA: Well, I guess I should have done the Goolging before I posted that.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/ct-spt-07292011-bears-reach-deal-with-williams,0,5317779.story
Williams is a done deal. Definitely going to have to break this down later today.
The only reason I know Podlesh is because he has a speed of 70 or so in Madden 08, which is fast for a punter. I’ve used him on trick plays from the punt and kick formation – not that Lovie would ever do anything crazy like that.
The Bills signed Tyler Thigpen to back up Fitzpatrick at QB, so Smith wouldn’t get more than the occasional snap. In any case I like the signing.
Smith is a good wildcat QB if the Billies want to add some of that into the mix.
I wasn’t trying to imply anything regarding the way they’d use him, just the pay levels. If the Bills pay him like a backup QB that’s more than the Bears would offer.
In other news, the Bears resigned DT Anthony Adams who was my top priority and the lost SS Danieal Manning to the Texans. Manning was a tricky one, I really liked the way he developed and I think they should have retained him but his price was steadily rising and the Bears have a bit of a log jam at the position and need to get Major Wright into the fold more.