NFL offseason thread

[Grey Fox]

Top 5 selling jerseys

1. Colin Kaepernick, 49ers (QB, No. 7)

Must be all those Aaron Hernandez fans looking for a positive jailhouse tattoo role model.

Half of them are scriptures, thats way beyond Jaillhouse.

[Neil]

Pitta down for most of the year?  Disaster.

[CountDeMoney]

Ouch

The Baltimore Ravens were hoping tight end Dennis Pitta could be a reliable possession receiver this season, filling a hole left when Anquan Boldin was traded to the San Francisco 49ers.

Those plans hit a snag when Pitta dislocated his hip in Saturday's practice.

Next man up, Ed.

[Neil]

Yeah, well although Dickson is more athletic than Pitta (which is the whole reason that he was starting ever since Heap left town), he doesn't have the same sure hands.  He made a couple of clutch grabs in the Superbowl, but how many passes did we see slip through his fingers the last couple of years?

[CountDeMoney]

He made a couple of clutch grabs in the Superbowl, but how many passes did we see slip through his fingers the last couple of years?

Than comes with not getting enough snaps and seeing the ball enough; that's why QBs work the ball early to receivers to get them into a rhythm early, and with working the primary routes Pitta had as opposed to the safety valve routes, I think he'll do fine as the full-timer.  But it's all on him in the end.

[derspiess]

I've been a no-show at the pre-camp Bengals pep rally as well as both days of practice thus far.  I may try to sneak a peek at tomorrow's Bungles practice.  We may meet some of the Hard Knocks guys at the new brewery in Over-the-Rhine tomorrow night as well. 

[sbr]

Eagles WR Jeremy macklin tore his ACL today.

Curious to see how Chip Kelly manged that.

[Ed Anger]

OXNARD, CA—According to sources inside the Dallas Cowboys training staff, quarterback Tony Romo returned to the practice field Thursday for the first time since undergoing surgery to remove a painful ovarian cyst. "Tony appears to have responded well to the procedure, and given the rate at which his ovarian cyst was growing, I'm glad we got in there when we did," said Dr. Peter Baskin, who removed the four inch fluid-filled sac after the signal-caller reported constant abdominal discomfort during voluntary OTA's. "If we had waited any longer, it very well could have spread to his uterus. Hopefully Tony can still have children." Baskin told reporters that there will most likely be some scarring along the fallopian tubes, but Romo's range of motion should remained unaffected.

[CountDeMoney]

As his newest tight end, Visanthe Shiancoe, ran extra routes on an adjacent field, Ravens coach John Harbaugh stepped behind a microphone and confirmed that the team's worst fears were true on tight end Dennis Pitta.

"Dennis is out for the year," Harbaugh said. "That's the type of thing that he's not going to be able to come back from this year. There's enough damage in there to preclude that."

[CountDeMoney]

Ravens resigned Vonta Leach to a 2-year deal.

[CountDeMoney]

It's so fucked up, let's fuck it up some more!

Pro Bowl format no longer AFC vs. NFC; kickoffs removed

In attempt to attract more television viewers to the Pro Bowl and also make the game more appealing its players, the NFL and the players union on Wednesday announced major changes to spice up the game's format.

The NFL has eliminated the traditional AFC-NFC format in favor of one in which two fantasy football champions from NFL.com and two captains will each pick 43 players, regardless of which conference those players play in, out the pool of players voted into the game. Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders will be the captains for this season's Pro Bowl, which will be played in Honolulu on Jan. 26. The Pro Bowl draft will be held four days earlier.

"It sounds interesting. It sounds like a lot of fun," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "I would just say that if you're a coach out there, you have to cross your fingers and hope your guy picks the best players."

Pro Bowl voting has also been changed, as conference affiliation will no longer be considered in the selection process. For example, that means four or more of the six quarterbacks selected could be from the AFC.

The changes were proposed by NFL Players Association president and former Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth (Maryland).

Fullback Vonta Leach was one of six Ravens selected to last season's Pro Bowl but didn't participate because the team advanced to the Super Bowl. He found out about the changes to the Pro Bowl on Wednesday evening when a reporter asked him about the possibility of having to block a teammate such as outside linebacker Terrell Suggs in the all-star game.

"I guess when the time comes we'll see about that," Leach said. "I guess they're trying to make it more entertaining and get more fans to watch and be excited about it. We'll see."

Another noteworthy tweak to the game was the elimination of kickoffs as a safety measure. Harbaugh, who was once the special teams coach for the NFC in the Pro Bowl, said some of the marquee players he coached weren't exactly thrilled about being asked to cover kicks.

Now, "the special teams coach is going to bring his family out there and have a nice vacation," he said.

With kickoffs scrapped, the NFL also eliminated the return specialist Pro Bowl roster spot and replaced it with an additional roster spot at defensive back.

Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones was selected to the game in that capacity a season ago, but he didn't seem to be too bummed out when he heard about that change.

"I'd rather go to the Super Bowl, anyway," Jones said, shrugging his shoulders.

Other changes included adding a two-minute warning to the first and third quarters and possession changes at the end of each quarter.

[Admiral Yi]

I've totally got it. 

Load the player picks into Madden and televise that.

[Syt]

It's still gonna suck, because no one will give it their all for fear of injury.

[Syt]

I've totally got it. 

Load the player picks into Madden and televise that.

That might actually be a better alternative.

[Admiral Yi]

That might actually be a better alternative.

Players could take turns operating the controls.