NFL 2012

[crimsonfloyd]

I think this punishment is pretty severe. Not only did the Saints lose their coach for the year, Peyton's planned intern coach Joe Vitt is suspended for 6 games. They could make Spagnolo the itern coach since he has head coaching experience, but he just arrived in New Orleans. Considering their loses in free agency, their dearth of draft picks and a potential (and justified) holdout free Brees on the horizon, I have a hard time seeing this team making the playoffs in 2012.

The fact the franchise got a smaller punishment probably means the higher-ups didn't know much about what was going on.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Brodrick Bunkley signed with the Saints, wow, great pick up. 5 years, $25 million..

He's real good against the run, but don't expect much of a pass rush from him. He's a mid-level 4-3 DT, but I wouldn't describe him as a "great" pickup. He should fit the Saints scheme though, and Spagnolo knows him from his days in Philly.

 

[rms]

I just really appreciate how the NFL didn't believe in the bullshit that Peyton didn't know about the bounties, probably should have been more imo

 

[Mort Divine]

He's real good against the run, but don't expect much of a pass rush from him. He's a mid-level 4-3 DT, but I wouldn't describe him as a "great" pickup. He should fit the Saints scheme though, and Spagnolo knows him from his days in Philly.

Considering how bad our interior d-line is this is a great pick up

Despite being solid in YPG against the run last year we had an awful YPC, so any run support we can get is great as far as I'm concerned.

 

[skeptik]

The Saints organization did know what was going on. The league warned them multiple times over the past three years and they didn't stop the practice. GM Loomis, from what I've read, was even more involved in this than Payton was. The owner knew and told Loomis to end the practice, and he didn't. Sure losing your coach for a year hurts, but it only hurts for one year. Losing a first round pick hurts for a lot longer. Maybe the overall punishment is rather significant, but relative to the public comments by the league of what the punishment might be, and how it was meant to 'teach a lesson', I felt that the level of punishment administered to the organization itself was less significant than I expected.

In other news, the Bills signed Mark Anderson. So now their defensive line is Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus, and Mark Anderson...not bad at all. Kamerion Wimbley is converting to a DE for the Titans, and the 49ers finally retained Alex Smith.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Two 2nd round picks is equal to a 1st round pick in value.

 

[Dak]

I am surprised there haven't been penalties for players under the program.

 

[skeptik]

Two 2nd round picks is equal to a 1st round pick in value.

Well, first of all, not really when you consider precedents in the past. Teams regularly give up a lot more than 2 2nd round picks to trade into the first round. Secondly, that's my point. The penalty should have been more severe than simply one 1st round pick. It might as well have been the 2nd round pick this year and the first round pick next year.

I am surprised there haven't been penalties for players under the program.

They will be coming.

Edit: Evidently the Tebow trade might be falling through atm, and if it does, the Rams might be a possible trade partner to replace the Jets.

Edit 2: Possible rules changes:

Overtime rules could change for the regular NFL season and if they do, you can partly credit -- or blame -- the Steelers.

Probably at the request of coach Mike Tomlin, the Steelers have proposed a change to the overtime rules that appear to have a good chance of passing when the NFL owners vote on various proposals at their meeting next week in Palm Beach, Fla.

The Steelers proposed that the new overtime rules used only in the playoffs for the first time last season also be used during the regular season.

In the regular season, the first team that scores any way wins. In the playoffs, each team is guaranteed at least one possession unless the team receiving the ball first scores a touchdown -- which happened in the Steelers' playoff loss at Denver when the Broncos struck with an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage in overtime.

The rules proposal has broad support, said Rich McKay, chairman of the NFL competition committee. He said both the NFL Players Association and the league coaches have endorsed it.

"Our feeling was, maybe for consistency's sake, we should do so,'' McKay says of passing the overtime rule.

The Steelers also have proposed a rule that would increase the protection of the quarterback. While a horse-collar tackle draws a penalty, one exception is when the quarterback is tackled that way within the pocket. The Steelers proposed to make that a penalty too.

A pet rules proposal of Steelers president Art Rooney for several years also will be put up for a vote through the competition committee. If passed, each team would be permitted to place one player on injured reserve at the start of the season who could return to play eight weeks into the season. That way a player hurt in the preseason or in the first game of the season could return to play roughly halfway through the season. As it stands now, there are no exceptions and all players placed on injured reserve at any point in a season cannot return to play that season.

 

[MasterOLightning]

They really should change the IR policy. The way they do things now has never made any sense to me. All the other pro sports handle injured players better. I've also heard that the league may implement a concussion list so that teams don't lose a roster spot and players don't feel pressured to come back and play so as to not leave their team shorthanded.

 

[skeptik]

Yeah, there are a few other rules changes that will be up for discussion. The IR rules were changed because of abuse, but I do think it's time to change. Teams used to stash young, promising players that weren't quite ready on IR with minor injuries and stuff instead of risking cutting them to try to put them on the practice squad, so the league changed it so that player can't return that season. It IS silly because if you think a player is going to return in 10 weeks, you have to keep open a roster spot. Like in 95, Rod Woodson tore his ACL in week one, and he came back to start in the Super Bowl. They had to go that entire season basically a player short because they had no other option. The NFL is slightly different than the other sports though, because the other major leagues have attached minor leagues, whereas the closest proximity that the NFL offers is an 8 player practice squad.

 

[King Richard]

hahahahaha Stupid fucking Saints. I think all of those people should be banned for life.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Apparently Mike Wallace wants a bigger contract than Larry Fitzgerald. He is going to be massively disappointed. No team will trade for him as long as his requests remain that absurd.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/22/report-mike-wallace-told-49ers-he-wants-more-than-larry-fitzgerald/

 

[skeptik]

Yeah, Pro Football Talk is legit. The 49ers don't pay players, so many suspect this is an effort to appease their fans to create the illusion that they did their due diligence. Wallace has already tweeted something like "don't believe everything you hear". If anything in the report is true, it was likely a high ball demand to put other teams off from his tender while he negotiates wit the Steelers. I know I'm biased, but with Wallace's tweet and the fact that shit like this is wrong all the time, I doubt there's an actual news story here.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Yeah PFT will post anything they hear, and teams can certainly use that to create a certain impression. But with the egos a lot of these receivers have, I wouldn't be surprised if Wallace did have unrealistic demands. He certainly wouldn't be the first.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

woo!
Bears sign Michael Bush for 4 years.

 

[rms]

I like Forte, but Bush is my boy from Louisville..great pickup for you guys, he's a great #1 RB imo, and way better than Barber.

 

[Dak]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d827cfd51/article/report-sounds-like-tebow-is-coming-after-sanchez

 

[rms]

I really dislike how it seems sports reporting is becoming more like Glamour magazine these days.

 

[Dak]

Oh yeah. I've noticed that trend increasing exponentially in the last five years or so.

Now all I'm waiting for is the jerseys to start looking like stock cars.

 

[Dak]

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/37360/cowboys-checking-out-dre-kirkpatrick

Calvin Watkins reports that the Cowboys plan to bring in Alabama cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick for a visit in early April. The team can host up to 30 players, so a Kirkpatrick visit doesn't mean he's the pick. But with the Cowboys still needing to add depth in the secondary and on defense in general, he's a very interesting guy. Mel Kiper Jr.'s latest mock draft had Kirkpatrick going No. 17 overall, so it's possible he'll be there for the Cowboys at 14 if they want him.

We've talked about this a lot, and we'll continue to do so for the next five weeks. Some people like Stanford guard David DeCastro at that No. 14 spot. I personally think the Cowboys need to be thinking defense, and as bad as their secondary was last year taking the best available defensive back at 14 makes a ton of sense to me. That could be Kirkpatrick. Could be Janoris Jenkins. Could be a safety, if Kirkpatrick's national champion teammate Mark Barron is there.

But anyway, Kirkpatrick's going to Valley Ranch the week after next, and I figured you guys could have some fun with that information.