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Lenny P's Insider Report (6/15)

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  • Lenny P's Insider Report (6/15)

    Friday, June 15, 2007
    Time running out for franchise players

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    By Len Pasquarelli
    ESPN.com

    In a league governed by a seemingly endless series of deadlines, the countdown began quietly yet ominously on Friday toward another significant date on the NFL calendar.


    When the clock struck midnight Friday, it meant that just one month remains until July 15, the day by which veterans designated as franchise players must sign long-term contracts. After that, according to a stipulation included in the new extension to the NFL collective bargaining agreement, "franchised" players without contracts can sign only the one-year qualifying offer for their positions.


    And the prospect of a one-year deal, with the money guaranteed but minus the fat, upfront signing bonus most star-caliber players always are seeking, isn't a particularly attractive one for the veterans involved.



    Four franchise players -- Indianapolis defensive end Dwight Freeney, cornerback Asante Samuel of New England, weakside linebacker Lance Briggs of Chicago, and defensive tackle Cory Redding of Detroit -- still don't have contracts. From the original group of seven franchise players, just one, New Orleans defensive end Charles Grant, has signed a long-term contract, nabbing a seven-year deal that could be worth as much as $63 million. Two others, Cincinnati defensive end Justin Smith and kicker Josh Brown of Seattle, signed their one-year tenders, at $8.64 million and $2.078 million, respectively.


    Basically, the July 15 deadline in its latest incarnation is a new twist. Still, the level of acrimony it almost certainly will summon as it nears is definitely old hat when it comes to the historic grievances harbored by franchise players. Before the latest CBA extension, there was actually a four-month moratorium on signing long-term contracts, and franchise players who didn't beat that dead period couldn't, at least practically speaking, sign multiyear deals until after July 15.


    To have done so beforehand would have meant their team would forfeit the franchise marker for the length of their contract.


    So while July 15 once represented the date after which substantive long-term negotiations could start, it's now the drop-dead date by which they must conclude.


    Given the torpid pace of negotiations involving the four unsigned franchise players, a lot is going to have to transpire in the next month to consummate long-term contracts.


    Surprisingly, the franchise player who might have the best shot of finishing off a deal is Freeney, who is the only one of the unsigned "franchised" veterans to have attended his team's mandatory minicamp, albeit it only as a spectator. In a sign of unity and a major display of goodwill, Freeney showed up for the Colts' three-day camp last month, and acknowledged he desperately wants to strike a contract that will keep him with the Super Bowl XLI champions for a long time, perhaps the rest of his career.


    The Indianapolis sackman has said, and done, all the right things. So has his agent, Gary Wichard, who has experienced the problems of representing a franchise player in the past and often railed against the system. As the lone "exclusive" franchise player this year, which meant that Freeney could not negotiate with any other teams, the veteran pass rusher has the highest tender, at $9.4 million. And, so far, he's taken the high road, which could result in a deal before the July 15 deadline.


    Indianapolis owner Jim Irsay, after all, doesn't lose players he wants to re-sign. And Irsay has vowed that Freeney isn't going anywhere.


    Samuel and Briggs have both said they plan to sit out until the 10th week of the season, the time by which they must report to their teams to gain a year of accrued service toward the NFL pension plan. Neither participated in his team's minicamp, nor did Redding. All essentially have indicated they are frustrated by their status, the fact they haven't been offered a long-term contract that meets their demands, or not been offered a multiyear deal at all, and all have chafed at being relegated to football limbo.


    But as ticked off as they might be, the unsigned franchise players had better hear the clock ticking in the background, as it moves toward July 15.


    Around the league

    • Garcia leading Bucs' QB derby: When Jon Gruden announced last week that veteran Jeff Garcia owns a big lead over the rest of the field for the starting quarterback spot in Tampa Bay, a lot of people speculated that the Bucs coach was orchestrating a psych-job meant, in part, to motivate Chris Simms. Well, there might have been some mind games going on there, because the wily Gruden certainly is capable of such ploys. In this case, though, there was more truth than subterfuge. Garcia is ahead of Simms, Bruce Gradkowski, Luke McCown and all other contenders for the starting job going into Tampa Bay's minicamp next week, and probably going into training camp next month as well.
    Jeff Garcia
    Quarterback
    Tampa Bay Buccaneers

    Profile
    2006 SEASON STATISTICS
    Cmp Att Yds Pct TD Int
    116 188 1309 61.7 10 2

    One reason is that Simms continues to struggle, as he acknowledged, with his mechanics, and simply hasn't thrown the ball very well this spring. As Simms pointed out, he is compensating in his throwing motion in a subconscious effort to protect his middle, where he underwent an emergency splenectomy last Sept. 24. Also, it's been speculated that the grace period on Gruden's Super Bowl XXXVII victory with the Bucs is running out. Given the team's 27-37 record in the ensuing four years, the coach needs to win big in 2007, and, thus, favors the more savvy Garcia. But here's another reason: Gruden always has preferred veteran quarterbacks with some mobility, not necessarily the ability to scramble upfield but rather to move around in the pocket, and to improvise when called upon. And Garcia is more nimble than anyone else the Bucs have.

    Gruden's favorite quarterback with whom he has worked is probably Rich Gannon, and Garcia possesses many of the same characteristics as the former league MVP. In his nine seasons as a head coach, Gruden's quarterbacks have rushed for an average of just 183.4 yards. Gannon, who had 529 rushing yards in Oakland in 2000, is the only one to run for more than 300 yards in a season. In Gruden's five seasons in Tampa Bay, his quarterbacks have been virtual statues, and have averaged fewer than 90 rushing yards per year. Garcia, whose career high is 414 yards in 2000, isn't exactly spry at age 37, but still can move around and throws well on the half-roll. The guy continues to be, as demonstrated last season when he started the final six games in Philadelphia, very resourceful. Of course, what Gruden really would like is to talk Jake Plummer, also very mobile, out of retirement, and have him compete for the No. 1 job. Toward that end, Gruden recently called Plummer to try to nudge him toward a comeback, but didn't succeed.



    • Bulger deal imminent? Depending on how things play out in another quarterback soap opera in the Sunshine State, at Jacksonville, agent Tom Condon of Creative Artists' Agency could have four interesting negotiations involving signal-callers in the next month or two. He's in the very early stages of working on a deal for Dallas starter Tony Romo, will have to get a contract completed for Cleveland first-round pick Brady Quinn, and might be approached about an extension for Byron Leftwich of the Jaguars.
    Each, in its own way, figures to be a difficult negotiation. But the contract that Condon is most likely to complete with some degree of facility figures to be the extension to which the St. Louis Rams likely will sign Marc Bulger before the start of training camp. Of the four, that one should be the "no-brainer" of the bunch. Arguably the league's least-appreciated passer, and coming off the best statistical season of his career, Bulger wants to finish his career in St. Louis. And the Rams, it seems, want him back for the long term. With Bulger entering the final year of his current deal, and scheduled to have a base salary of only about $4 million, the two sides have been discussing an extension for several weeks. And Condon and team president Jay Zygmunt, who have a solid working relationship, were tentatively scheduled to meet this week for face-to-face bargaining, which should hasten the process a bit.



    Drew Bennett
    Wide receiver
    St. Louis Rams

    Profile
    2006 SEASON STATISTICS
    Rec Yds Avg Lng TD
    46 737 16.0 39 3

    • Big plans for Bennett: On the subject of Bulger and the Rams, the veteran quarterback seems to have forged a quick relationship with Drew Bennett, the newest weapon in his wide receiver arsenal. The team's biggest offseason acquisition on the offensive side, Bennett, signed as an unrestricted free agent after six seasons in Tennessee, provides Bulger a different kind of receiver than either of St. Louis' other two stars, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce.
    Bennett is 6-foot-5 and 206 pounds, one of the biggest wide receivers in the league, and an imposing target. And it appeared at this week's minicamp, where observers said Bulger threw the heck out of the ball, that Bennett could make an impact in the red zone in 2007. Despite his great size, Bennett has never been much of a force inside the 20-yard line. However, as his 14.8-yard career average demonstrates, he can get vertical for a guy with such a long-strider's gait. Bennett has averaged a remarkable 26.8 yards per touchdown catch on his 18 scores over the past three seasons, and six of those have been for 40 yards or more. Only seven of the scores, though, came in the red zone. If the minicamp this week was a sign of things to come in the St. Louis offense, look for coach Scott Linehan to seek out advantageous red-zone matchups for Bennett in 2007.




    • Brown close to decision: Look for four-year veteran Chris Brown, the top tailback still remaining in the unrestricted pool, to make a decision next week on where he will play in 2007. After deliberating over the pitches made by several suitors, Brown has narrowed his choices to Tennessee and Chicago. He probably will take the weekend to parse the differences between those teams, and then sign next week.
    The contract proposals for Brown, who likely will sign a one-year deal that would enable him to re-establish himself and then go back into the free-agent market again next spring, are believed to be similar. But the opportunities aren't exactly the same. If Brown returns to the Titans, where he has played all four seasons of his career, he will become the odds-on favorite to reclaim the starting job he lost to the now-departed Travis Henry in 2006. The Titans aren't very deep at tailback, certainly can't count on second-year pro LenDale White to seize the opportunity that's been presented to him, and are familiar with Brown and his running style. The former Colorado star had a 1,000-yard season in 2004, registered 1,918 rushing yards in 2004-2005, and likes working with Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher.

    In his native Chicago, where he still has some family, Brown would be behind presumptive starter Cedric Benson on the depth chart, but would take the place of Thomas Jones, who was traded to the New York Jets this spring. He definitely would get carries in the share-the-workload system favored by Bears coach Lovie Smith, and might have a chance for a Super Bowl appearance. There are pros and cons to each of the options, but Brown, who also was courted to varying degrees by Indianapolis, New England and Green Bay, among others, is close to a decision.



    • Darius stunned by release: No one was more blindsided by Jacksonville's decision to release strong safety Donovin Darius on Thursday morning than the nine-year veteran himself. Darius had just finished whipping cornerback Rashean Mathis in ping-pong when an assistant coach informed him that coach Jack Del Rio needed to talk to him. What transpired in that meeting, Darius acknowledged, was a bolt from the blue. Still recovering from the broken right ankle that he sustained in December, his second major injury in two years, Darius isn't quite ready yet to return to the field. But the man who was the face of the Jaguars' defense for a lot of years is on track to be ready for training camp, and should have multiple teams inquiring about him, if he is healthy.
    Darius was always a liability in coverage, but was a solid tackler and a good force against the run. There almost certainly will be some team with a need for a guy like Darius, on the field, and in its locker room. The Jags, meanwhile, are rolling the dice a bit at safety, but seem confident that youngsters like three-year veteran Gerald Sensabaugh and first-round draft pick Reggie Nelson are capable of replacing the tandem of Darius and former free safety Deon Grant, who went to Seattle this spring as a free agent.



    • Thomas in line to start: Of the three highly regarded offensive tackles chosen in the first round of this year's draft, it appears, with about six weeks to go until camps open, that Joe Thomas, Cleveland's pick with the third overall selection, has the best chance to start. At least at left tackle. Thomas is still running behind incumbent Kevin Shaffer at the position, but the general feeling is that he eventually will claim the starting spot. Levi Brown, taken by Arizona with the fifth pick in the first round, is set to switch to right tackle, where he would be entrusted with protecting the blind side of southpaw quarterback Matt Leinart, but still can't edge past Oliver Ross on the depth chart. The plan of coach Ken Whisenhunt had been to move Ross to the left side, in part to create a spot for Brown, but that hasn't occurred. Free agent Mike Gandy, signed from Buffalo, suddenly has a leg up on the starting job at left tackle. In San Francisco, where the 49ers used the 28th pick on Joe Staley, the former Central Michigan star has worked most of the spring at right tackle, not on the left side.


    Mathias Kiwanuka
    Defensive end
    N.Y. Giants

    Profile
    2006 SEASON STATISTICS
    Tot Solo Ast Sack FF Int
    53 44 9 4.0 2 2

    • Kiwanuka adjusting to LB: Although Mathias Kiwanuka continues to have a few rough spots in his transition, the New York Giants are sticking to their plan to move the defensive end to strongside linebacker for this season. The team's first-round pick in 2006, Kiwanuka had four sacks as a rookie, and demonstrated natural pass-rush skills. But starting ends Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora are healthy, New York has good depth at the position, and the coaches want to get their best athletes on the field. They believe Kiwanuka is one of their best 11 defenders and that he possesses enough reverse-movement skills to be a solid strongside 'backer.



    • The List: St. Louis tailback Steven Jackson said last week that his goal for 2007 is to reach 2,500 total yards (rushing and receiving) from scrimmage, a performance that would break the current NFL record held by former Rams star Marshall Faulk. No one should bet against Jackson, who, in his second season as a starter in 2006, registered a league-best 2,334 total yards from scrimmage, the fifth-best total in NFL history. Here's the list of the top 10 performances in NFL history in terms of total yards from scrimmage in a season: Faulk, 2,429 yards (1999); Tiki Barber, New York Giants, 2,390 (2005); LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego, 2,370 (2003); Barry Sanders, Detroit, 2,358 (1997); Jackson, 2,334 (2006); Tomlinson, 2,323 (2006); Marcus Allen, Los Angeles Raiders, 2,314 (1985); Edgerrin James, Indianapolis, 2,303 (2000); Priest Holmes, Kansas City, 2,287 (2002); and Jamal Lewis, Baltimore, 2,271 (2003).


    • Stat of the week:: In his four seasons as the Oakland Raiders' head coach, Jon Gruden three times had offenses that statistically ranked among the top seven in the league, and his clubs averaged 24.3 points per game from 1998-2001. The Gruden-designed offensive system hasn't been nearly as productive in Tampa Bay. In his five seasons with the Bucs, the Gruden offense has averaged just 18.6 points. Only once has Tampa Bay ranked among the league's top 10 offenses. In the other four seasons, including each of the last three, the Bucs ranked 22nd or lower, including a No. 29 statistical ranking in 2006.


    • The last word: "My mama always told me to stay out of the grown folks' business. If it ain't my business, I got no business in it." -- Miami wide receiver Marty Booker on the ongoing impasse between quarterback Daunte Culpepper and Dolphins management
    Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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