NFL offseason thread 2009

[Wilson A2000]

And now brett farve apparently wants to play again! Big surprise! He wants to get revenge on Green Bay and is in talks with Minnesota. I'm not sure how good he is anymore but in a dome with that offense, he could be pretty tough.

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2009/05/02/2009-05-02_all_signs_point_to_brett_favre_returning_to_nfl_with_the_vikings.html

 

Unless Favre has surgery on his torn bicep tendon, I don't think he'd be very effective.

 

Reports are that it wasn't as bad as first thought.

[Flames24Rulz]

I can never stop flip-flopping my opinion of Favre as a Viking.

 

I honestly hope it happens.

 

I still can't believe how he went from one of my all-time favorite athletes to one of my most despised in the matter of less than a year. I'd love nothing more than to play him twice a year and hopefully beat his ass in those games. That'd be pretty satisfying.

[Wilson A2000]

I can never stop flip-flopping my opinion of Favre as a Viking.

 

The Vikings could be very very good with Harvin and Favre. But then again, in crunch time last year, Favre was terrible.

[RedFlash]

I can never stop flip-flopping my opinion of Favre as a Viking.

 

The Vikings could be very very good with Harvin and Favre. But then again, in crunch time last year, Favre was terrible.

 

IDK if Harvin will be any good in the NFL. Cause every time I see him, I see Peter Warrick.

[hawkeyecub]

I can never stop flip-flopping my opinion of Favre as a Viking.

 

The Vikings could be very very good with Harvin and Favre. But then again, in crunch time last year, Favre was terrible.

 

They can be very good with the current roster. Not Super Bowl good, but 11-12 wins and division champion good. The defense is very good and should be better with the return of E.J. in the middle. I'm not counting on a lot offensively from Harvin but hopefully he, along with Sage can have it in the 10-15 range in the league.

 

Favre was having a pretty solid season last year before the injury. He would be surrounded by a better offense than he had last year and would be in a familiar style offense. If he requires all of the special treatment and refuses to adapt to the offense or coaching, it's probably more harm than good.

[Wilson A2000]

If he requires all of the special treatment and refuses to adapt to the offense or coaching, it's probably more harm than good.

 

You better bet Favre is going to ask for this. He had his own locker room with the Jets. He isn't going to go to any of the summer workouts.

[Soul]

I can never stop flip-flopping my opinion of Favre as a Viking.

 

I honestly hope it happens.

 

I still can't believe how he went from one of my all-time favorite athletes to one of my most despised in the matter of less than a year. I'd love nothing more than to play him twice a year and hopefully beat his ass in those games. That'd be pretty satisfying.

 

I hope it happens, mostly because it will make those Vikings/Packers games total war.

 

Especially the one @ Lambeau. I'm not sure I can even wrap my mind around Favre coming out of the tunnel @ Lambeau in a Vikings jersey.

 

And I also don't mind it happening because I'm skeptical that Favre's arm is really that good with the torn bicep, and Favre always relied on having incredible arm strength. Without a primo arm, I'm not sure it's really Brett Favre anymore.

[dew1679666265]

A couple interesting rumors out there:

 

Colts' offensive line coach Howard Mudd is apparently retiring immediately. Mudd is easily one of (if not the) best offensive line coaches in the game, but the new NFL pension plan is apparently forcing him out.

 

Also, Football Outsiders is reporting that Marvin Harrison is likely to just retire.

[ctcf]

I believe Drew Magary of KSK has summed up the Favre situation best (Language warning): http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2009/05/f-k-you-brett-favre.html

[Cubswin11]

A couple interesting rumors out there:

 

Colts' offensive line coach Howard Mudd is apparently retiring immediately. Mudd is easily one of (if not the) best offensive line coaches in the game, but the new NFL pension plan is apparently forcing him out.

 

Also, Football Outsiders is reporting that Marvin Harrison is likely to just retire.

What ever happened with that gun charge thing he had going on? I know his production has been way down the last 1 1/2-2 years and he has noticeably gotten slower/less athletic/not as good, but I wonder if teams are expecting some sort of charges to come down and he might have to serve some jail time or something. Also a situation like that can bring unwanted attention to a locker room, training camp, and pre/post game stuff. It's actually really shocking to me how quickly he had fallen from 99-06 he had gone over 1000 yds and 10 TD's in every season. Then the last two years he just completely lost it, he always seemed like a guy to me that could last longer because he had such good hands, body control, ran good routes, and had a really good QB throwing to him.

[dew1679666265]

A couple interesting rumors out there:

 

Colts' offensive line coach Howard Mudd is apparently retiring immediately. Mudd is easily one of (if not the) best offensive line coaches in the game, but the new NFL pension plan is apparently forcing him out.

 

Also, Football Outsiders is reporting that Marvin Harrison is likely to just retire.

What ever happened with that gun charge thing he had going on? I know his production has been way down the last 1 1/2-2 years and he has noticeably gotten slower/less athletic/not as good, but I wonder if teams are expecting some sort of charges to come down and he might have to serve some jail time or something. Also a situation like that can bring unwanted attention to a locker room, training camp, and pre/post game stuff. It's actually really shocking to me how quickly he had fallen from 99-06 he had gone over 1000 yds and 10 TD's in every season. Then the last two years he just completely lost it, he always seemed like a guy to me that could last longer because he had such good hands, body control, ran good routes, and had a really good QB throwing to him.

 

I don't think much will come from the gun charges. It may well be a concern for some teams, though.

 

I'm a little surprised by Marvin's sharp decline as well, but between injury issues and his speed/agility declining as he ages, it's understandable. Marvin always has had good body control and hands, but he's also been reliant on his speed, athleticism and agility and those have definitely deteriorated in the past few years.

 

I think he could be serviceable for a WR hungry team, but will likely cost more than he should. He was probably the best WR in the game in his prime, though.

[CubColtPacer]

Harrison was playing pretty well in 07 in the first 3 games. The only reason he didn't have more stats is because the Colts were really spreading the ball around nicely in the beginning of that year. That injury against Denver on a freak play really killed his career. I'm not sure his knee was ever the same, and even if he was able to rehab it the timing loss of being off the football field for pretty much a year really hurt last year (Harrison got open several times last year on deep passes that Manning couldn't connect with..it almost felt like Harrison could still beat people but he couldn't run a consistent speed that Manning could hit in stride). It's a sad end to a career, but that sort of thing happens when you have a major injury at 35 years of age. He just got unlucky because he still had 3-4 productive years left.

 

Howard Mudd is leaving? Because of a pension plan? That is just absolutely awful news. And Moore could have the same problem? Thanks NFL for potentially taking the two best coaches on the roster who are some of the best assistants in the league and showing them the door.

[dew1679666265]

Howard Mudd is leaving? Because of a pension plan? That is just absolutely awful news. And Moore could have the same problem? Thanks NFL for potentially taking the two best coaches on the roster who are some of the best assistants in the league and showing them the door.

 

I was shocked when I read that this morning. I don't know anything about Pete Metzelaars - the guy who's apparently taking over- but it's hard to imagine he'll be as good as Mudd was. And if you lose Tom Moore as well, that could really hurt.

[dew1679666265]

Interesting buy-low candidate:

 

Rams cut LB Pisa Tinoisamoa.

[dew1679666265]

The Colts' offensive coordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd have officially retired.

[tfarks]

The Colts' offensive coordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd have officially retired.

 

That is a shame, what did they change in the pension plan for this to occur? A cap on how long someone can be employed and still receive a pension?

 

Hopefully for the Colts they will be allowed to work in a consultancy fashion.

[dew1679666265]

The Colts' offensive coordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd have officially retired.

 

That is a shame, what did they change in the pension plan for this to occur? A cap on how long someone can be employed and still receive a pension?

 

Hopefully for the Colts they will be allowed to work in a consultancy fashion.

 

Here's how Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post explained it:

 

Most of us have some form of invested retirement account — 401(k)/403(b) or IRA. These are variable and contributory accounts that basically allow us to save tax-deferred money for retirement. A lucky few of us have a Defined Benefit Plan where the amount we receive in retirement is a fixed amount based on some objective measure like the average of our last three years salary. Government workers and teachers have had these kinds of pension plans. They’re expensive because they require a strong investment climate, and if people live a long time, as they do today, they often outlive their contributions to the plan. In March, the NFL allowed teams to opt out of their Defined Benefit Plan. This is sparking panic among coaches nearing or past retirement age, especially those who have maxed out their contribution with teams that have opted out of the Defined Benefit Plan.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I don't know if this has been discussed and I missed it, but I was reading that the NFL instituted a rule change outlawing wedge blocking with more than two blockers on kick-offs. This could make for less yardage off kick-off returns in the upcoming season.

[dew1679666265]

I don't know if this has been discussed and I missed it, but I was reading that the NFL instituted a rule change outlawing wedge blocking with more than two blockers on kick-offs. This could make for less yardage off kick-off returns in the upcoming season.

 

Yeah, that was talked about either earlier in this thread or in a different one. I'm not crazy about it, but they've made worse changes.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Well they're trying to avoid the injuries caused by players trying to break the wedge. It'll just cause teams to have to get a little more creative in kickoff return blocking.

[dew1679666265]

Well they're trying to avoid the injuries caused by players trying to break the wedge. It'll just cause teams to have to get a little more creative in kickoff return blocking.

 

I understand the reasoning behind it, but like you said they'll find more creative ways to return kicks - and they'll likely be just as dangerous.

[ISUCubsFan]

Kornheiser out, Gruden in for MNF.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4174469

 

No idea how good Gruden will be in the booth, but I never really liked Kornheiser on MNF anyway, so it should be an improvement.

[dew1679666265]

Kornheiser out, Gruden in for MNF.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4174469

 

No idea how good Gruden will be in the booth, but I never really liked Kornheiser on MNF anyway, so it should be an improvement.

 

I liked Kornheiser well enough for the role he served. Gruden, however, was very good on NFL Network during the draft and I think he'll be good for MNF.

[jersey cubs fan]

Kornheiser out, Gruden in for MNF.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4174469

 

No idea how good Gruden will be in the booth, but I never really liked Kornheiser on MNF anyway, so it should be an improvement.

 

I liked Kornheiser well enough for the role he served. Gruden, however, was very good on NFL Network during the draft and I think he'll be good for MNF.

 

I hated that Kornheiser could not get past the scripted topic du jour and he would just hammer it all game long. And there would always be the obvious "okay Tony, here's your 5 minutes, now go with it" times, that would routinely be interrupted by the actual game. I don't think the sarcastic non football character works in the information age. I like Jaws, but he didn't work well with Tony. Maybe that will be better with Gruden, who was genuinely entertaining during the draft.

[dew1679666265]

Kornheiser out, Gruden in for MNF.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4174469

 

No idea how good Gruden will be in the booth, but I never really liked Kornheiser on MNF anyway, so it should be an improvement.

 

I liked Kornheiser well enough for the role he served. Gruden, however, was very good on NFL Network during the draft and I think he'll be good for MNF.

 

I hated that Kornheiser could not get past the scripted topic du jour and he would just hammer it all game long. And there would always be the obvious "okay Tony, here's your 5 minutes, now go with it" times, that would routinely be interrupted by the actual game. I don't think the sarcastic non football character works in the information age. I like Jaws, but he didn't work well with Tony. Maybe that will be better with Gruden, who was genuinely entertaining during the draft.

 

I understand your complaints about Kornheiser - and agree with most of them. I think Gruden will be a better fit overall.