NFL Offseason Thread

[Vince]

Might as well get one started...

Six more weeks until the draft.    :-[

[Grey Fox]

4 month till LFFL 2010.

[Strix]

Steelers are starting to shed dead weight, McFadden and Anthony Smith.

That is all!

[JacobL]

RAY LEWIS' NEW CONTRACT IS A SEVEN-YEAR DEAL
Posted by Aaron Wilson on March 10, 2009, 4:43 p.m.

Baltimore Ravens All-Pro middle linebacker Ray Lewis' contract, which he officially signed Monday, is a seven-year, incentive-laden pact, according to NFL Players Association records.

It's not a three-year, $22 million contract as originally reported.

Per Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, Lewis received $15.5 million in guaranteed money in an intricate structure that pays the two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year a total of $10 million during the 2009 season. According to the article, Lewis gets a $6.25 million signing bonus, a $2.75 million roster bonus and a $1 million base salary.

The Ravens have option-year decisions to make in 2010 and 2011. A 10-time Pro Bowl selection, Lewis has a $1.25 million option bonus in 2010 with a $4.25 million base salary.

His 2011 option bonus goes up to $2 million with a base salary raise of an additional $250,000 from his 2010 compensation level.

An NFLPA source told Cole: "The reason for doing it this way is to deal with the salary cap, assuming that there's a cap again. It's just a way of handling the proration on the signing bonus and the other money."

Per NFLPA records we've seen, Lewis is due the following base salaries: $1 million in 2009, $4.25 million 2010, $4.5 million in 2011, $4.95 million in 2012, $5.4 million in 2013, $5.85 million in 2014 and $6.3 million in 2015.

Of course, it's extremely unlikely that Lewis will be playing middle linebacker when he's 40 years old. Lewis turns 34 in May.

Interesting way to do a deal.

[Benedict Arnold]

Vince's thread wasn't good enough for you?

[Berkut]

In other news, the Bills signed Terrell Owens.

Ballsy move, I guess. At least it might trick some locals into giving a shit, one way or the other.

[JacobL]

Vince's thread wasn't good enough for you?

Apparently not good enough to stay on the first page.

Orlando Pace is getting cut also.


edit:  I actually did a quick look but didn't see it somehow.  Besides that is an off season thread and mine covers the regular reason also.

[katmai]

Steelers are starting to shed dead weight, McFadden and Anthony Smith.

That is all!

Hey strix me hard drive died over weekend, so that's why i didn't get LFBB setup.

[Benedict Arnold]

Hey strix me hard drive died over weekend, so that's why i didn't get LFBB setup.

It is the works though?  As per usual, count me in.  Hell, I think I was a player in the KAPland league before you.  I have: seniority!

[Stonewall]

Steelers are starting to shed dead weight, McFadden and Anthony Smith.

That is all!

McFadden was a good player, but not worth the money Arizona gave him.  Smith was just a roster spot taken by someone who choked when it was his turn to play.  We need a 3rd wide receiver.  As much as I think Sweed has potential, he's clearly not ready to feature regularly in the offense and Hines Ward has seen better days.  Receiver is a huge need, as is the O-Line and D-Line.  Thankfully the D-Line problems are more to do with age than performance. 

[Strix]

McFadden was a good player, but not worth the money Arizona gave him.  Smith was just a roster spot taken by someone who choked when it was his turn to play.  We need a 3rd wide receiver.  As much as I think Sweed has potential, he's clearly not ready to feature regularly in the offense and Hines Ward has seen better days.  Receiver is a huge need, as is the O-Line and D-Line.  Thankfully the D-Line problems are more to do with age than performance.

Everything I am hearing from the "experts" it seems to indicate that this year's draft is deep in talent when it comes to the receiver position. Hopefully we can grab a good one in the 3rd or 4th round.

I am hopeful that the O-Line continues to gel and improves. Talent is great but often working together for an extended time can make up for some talent issues.

It's a pipe dream but sure would be nice to grab Marvin Harrison for that 3rd receiver spot. 

[Stonewall]

Yeah, I agree on receiver being a deep position this year.  Sweed has tons of potential.  His Texas highlights are impressive.  I know he can catch the ball.  Hopefully it was rookie jitters.  I remember how awful Plaxico was in his first season and he turned out to be an excellent receiver. 

[JacobL]

It seems sadly people prefer this thread to mine for some foolish reason.

per PFT

Kurt Warner might get to keep his $2 million, after all.

A league source tells us that the Arizona Cardinals are shopping receiver Anquan Boldin to potential trade partners.

Warner recently has suggested that he'd devote a portion of his salary to signing Boldin to a new contract.  (We don't think Warner really means it.)

Boldin, a six-year veteran, is signed through 2010.  He has wanted for roughly a year a significant increase from his current range of $2.5 million to $3 million.

With teammate Larry Fitzgerald at $10 million per year, Boldin is believed to want at least $9 million annually.

Boldin previously has requested a trade.  At one point after the Super Bowl, Boldin said that he would not sign a new deal with the Cardinals, and that he wanted to be dealt to a new team.  More recently, he had softened in his position, expressing a willingness to consider a new long-term contract to stay with the team.

Arizona needs to just completely come out and admit they are trading him.  Wouldn't exactly shock people if he suddenly goes to the Eagles for one of their 2 1st rounders and maybe some small change with it.

[MadImmortalMan]

Has anybody seen any decent draft predictions?

[Vince]

It seems sadly people prefer this thread to mine for some foolish reason.