NFL > Giants Lose Another One, Kevin Boss To Oakland Raiders

~ It has not been a camp to remember for the New York Giants. It has not been one to remember for their fans either. Big Blue took another hit to their team’s 2011 outlook when they lost their starting tight end Kevin Boss to the Oakland Raiders. The hits just keep on coming.

Now why would Boss want to use his free agency to end up signing with Oakland of all places? How about $16 million over four years? Thats the reported deal that the Raiders put on the table for Boss to grab.Oakland needed to replace their big-time tight end Zach Miller and Boss was the next best available option. It leaves the Giants without a starting tight end and quarterback Eli Manning without his favorite target.

The Giants are strapped for cash and clearly everyone knows it. However they have to find a way to bring some peace of mind back to their fanbase. They not only didn’t get Plaxico Burress to come back, they end up losing him to the New York Jets of all teams. The Osi Umenyiora contract situation continues to be a headache for them.

Boss leaving may prove to be a huge loss for a team that is going to need as many weapons as they can get to line up against the Eagles. Losing Boss also hurts the Giants on the offensive line, he’s a great blocker. The Giants already have huge question marks on that line following the cuts to Shaun O’Hara and Rich Seubert.

NFL > Former NY Jet Shaun Ellis Signs w/ New England

~ The border wars over the years between the Patriots and Jets have produced some pretty good headlines The border wars may not have the steam they had in previous years, however the rivalry between the two teams is as strong as ever. Long-time New York Jet Shaun Ellis knows about the border wars and that’s what makes him signing with New England all the more interesting.

According to reports, Ellis and the Patriots agreed to a one-year deal that left Jets head coach Rex Ryan to respond in typical Rex Ryan fashion …

“The fact that he chose them … there’s no way I’m going to wish him well. There’s no chance of that.” … Rex Ryan

Ryan wasn’t completely serious about that, he did wish Ellis to have a healthy season. However, the Jets-Patriots has no love-lost to it at all. Once you crossover to the other side, you’re offically the enemy.

 The Jets are going to miss what Ellis brought to the table on defense. He was well respected on the team. Ellis is 34 years old and the Jets recently drafted Muhammad Wilkerson as his potential replacement. Wilkerson is reportedly having a pretty good camp and is expected to be the starter at defensive end.

 The Patriots were thin at the defensive end position and Ellis could be a great short-term fit for them.

NFL News & Notes > Nnamdi, Ochocinco, & The Quarterback Carousel … A Wild Week in NFL

Asomugha to the Eagles, Ochocinco & Haynesworth to New England, and The Quarterback Carousel Going Around & Around.

 

~ If the 2011-2012 NFL season ends up being as exciting as the aftermath of the league’s 132-day lockout has been so far, then fans are in store for a very wild road to the Super Bowl. The abbreviated off-season that has resulted from the lockout has led to a whirlwind of free-agent transactions which has seen teams scramble to sign as much talent as possible. It has made for must-see television for football fans across the nation.

NFL > St.Louis Adds Mike Sims-Walkers To The Mix

 

~  The St. Louis Rams have reportedly added Mike Sims-Walker to their team as another target for franchise quarterback Sam Bradford to throw to. ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the deal is for one-year. Walker is coming off a couple of productive seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars and could prove to be a big pick up for the Rams.

 Bradford had a very impressive rookie season for a team that didn’t have a breakout wide receiver on their team. Walker could help stretch the field for St.Louis.

 What is confusing in this is why the Jaguars didn’t attempt to bring Walker back after he emerged to be quarterback David Garrard‘s go-to receiver. Walker does have a track record of injuries and that will be something to pay attention to in St.Louis.

NFL > Nnamdi Asomugha Ends Speculation & Signs w/ Eagles

~ The Philadelphia Eagles were already an early favorite to win their division and now they have pulled off the stunner of the free- agency signing season. In a move that no one appeared to really see coming, the Eagles have signed cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha to a reported 5-year deal for $60 million with $25 million guranteed. Asomugha was the top free agent on the market and it’s the Eagles who land him.

 The Asomugha situation has been compelling to watch play out on ESPN and throughout other sports outlets. No one could seem to figure out where the former Oakland Raiders cornerback was headed. Slowly yet surely, the dominoes began to fall.

 Houston dropped out of the race, and then the New York Jets became the favorites with Dallas getting into the mix. The thought of pairing a lockdown cornerback like Ashomugha with fellow all-pro cornerback Darrelle Revis was a scary image for everyone in the league and could have been the missing piece for the Jets. The Jets went as far as to restructure the contracts of some of their biggest names on the roster in order to help grab Asomugha. The Eagles apparently knew better and were doing their homework.

 Philadelphia now adds on to an already impressive team. They went into the off-season knowing they had to make some moves with their defense. They recently traded quarterback Kevin Kolb away to Arizona and were able to get back great value in Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie at cornerback.

 Logically no one would expect the Eagles to be in the hunt for Asomugha and the Jets appeared to be a lock to get him until it became obvious there was a holdup in the deal. It’s easy to speculate on what was behind Asomugha’s reasoning for picking the Eagles. What is clear right now is that with Rodgers-Cromartie on one side of the field and Asomugha on the other, the Eagles will be a headache for NFC east teams like Eli Manning and the Giants to gameplan for.

 ESPN’s Adam Schefter has done a great job of covering every move throughout the Asomugha chase and did say that he had a feeling a mystery team perhaps could be making a power move to land Asomugha. It turns out that the Eagles were that mystery team flying under the radar.

NFL News & Notes: Free Agent Moves, Trades & Head Scratchers

~ The NFL is not only in full swing now that the lockout has come to an end it is on full tilt and it’s the fast and furious. Moves, moves, and more moves have dominated the headlines as teams are scrambling to fit all of their needs into the new salary cap that is one of the results of the lockout.

 It’s an exciting time right now to be a free agent in the league and it’s an even more exciting time for the fans to see what moves their respective teams are willing to make to get the best possible chance to win.  It’s impossible to breakdown every move that has been made recently and there are still more moves to be made. However here are some notable moves that have been the talk of the town so far with the league where they pay to play …

The Lockout Is Over … Football Talk Can Now REALLY Begin

~ The NFL will have football and that is music to the ears of myself and many fans around the nation. The lockout has reportedly been lifted and football will be played in the fall of 2011.

 Football is back, well it never really left. No regular season games are going to be missed and only 1 pre-season game had to be cancelled. (The Hall of Fame game between Chicago and Houston)

 The lockout offically being lifted gives the teams, players, and the fans back the spotlight on the actual game that’s played on the field.

 What Comes Along With The Lifting of The Lockout? 

 The deal is a 10-year deal with no opt-out which means no talk of a lockout anytime soon. 

 The salary cap will now be at $120 million. The teams can now focus on how this will impact their rosters going into the regular season. Over 400 NFL players are currently free agents and more than quite a few high profile players may have to find new teams to play for because of the possibilities of them being cut because of the cap.

 Money, Money, and if All Else Fails … More Money

 The threat of games actually being cancelled because of the lockout proved to be the game-changer in the negotiations. This is logical because the bottom line is and will always be that this is a league where they pay to play.

 Both sides (Owners & Players) needed to figure out the best way to split all of the money that was coming in from annual league revenue. $9 billion is a lot of pie to divide and both sides held firm in their gameplans. That’s where reality came in and started bnging on the door.

 The closer the NFL began to get to the start of the regular season, the more realistic the threat of games being cancelled became. No games being played means no money being made.

 It’s great that both sides came to this agreement and even better that the fans don’t lose out on the start of the regular season. However, this league simply was not going to risk regular season games being cancelled and losing even more money than they have already. Money is always what leads you to the bargaining table and it normally is what gets you away from it.

 It’s now time to get ready for the craziest free-agency peroid in recent memory. If this is going to be chaos, at least it’s going to be organized chaos. Time for some football!

NY Mets-Blog > It’s Time To Show Jose Reyes The Money

~ It has to feel pretty good to be #7 for the New York Mets right now. Jose Reyes is approaching a crossroads.

The 28-year old shortstop is currently playing the best baseball of his career. Reyes has given the Mets organization everything they could possibly want from him in 2011. He is also up for a new contract at the end of the season. It’s now time for the Mets to give their fanbase what it wants … a new contract for Jose Reyes.

This wouldn’t be any ordinary new contract. Professional athletes get new contracts all the time. In most cases, the contract scale normally works this way if an athlete becomes a big time player:

• The Rookie Contract: The 1st contract a.k.a the rookie contract let’s an athlete know that they have arrived to the party. The fans are excited because their team has a player that’s developed into a buzz.

• The All-Star Contract: In the event that athlete lives up to the potential and buzz that got them their rookie contract, there is this contract. The athlete has become a branding weapon for their team and it’s marketing strategy. Fans come to the ballpark to see them play.

• The Franchise Contract: Every athlete that becomes an All-Star in their career won’t receive this contract. The athlete is now at it’s highest prestige level. Their overall talent and game-changing skills has not only been recognized, it has turned that into athlete into a made man. This is the contract that opens the door to an exclusive membership. Cuba Gooding Jr. said it best as Rod Tidwell in the 1996 film Jerry Maguire …