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Friday, February 1, 2008
Pats possibly bracing for another WR overhaul
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By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
PHOENIX -- The New England Patriots will seek a fourth Super Bowl title in seven seasons on Sunday evening armed with a contingent of fleet wide receivers.
But in only a few weeks, because of the manner in which New England management structured the contracts of most of the veteran pass-catchers the team acquired in the spring of 2006, the group could suddenly become a bunch of fleeting wide receivers.
In fact, of the seven wideouts on the Patriots' roster for Super Bowl XLII, only two, Wes Welker and Chad Jackson, are under contract for the 2008 campaign. And Jackson, a second-round choice in 2006, has appeared in only 14 games in two seasons, with just 13 career catches.
"We're going to face some decisions as an organization, and some of the [wide receivers] are going to face decisions, too," vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli acknowledged to ESPN.com this week. "It's not something that we're ready to address yet, because we still have a game to play. But it will have to be addressed fairly quickly. And, right now, there's no way of knowing how things will evolve."
Patriots QB Tom Brady completed 398 passes for 4,806 yards and 50 touchdowns in 2007. But counting all reception-eligible players, New England technically could be without the players who combined for more than 50 percent of that production by the start of next season. That isn't likely, but it is possible. New England has so many receivers who will either be eligible for free agency or due hefty option bonuses after the season that the Patriots may be reluctant to pay out.
The list begins with Randy Moss, who renegotiated his Oakland Raiders' contract -- taking less money for 2007 and agreeing to reduce the deal to one year -- when he was acquired by the Pats in an April 29 trade. As reported earlier this week by ESPN.com, a technicality in the collective bargaining agreement precludes the Pats from extending Moss' contract before free agency begins. So unless New England designates Moss as a franchise player, which would mean a one-year tender at $7.848 million, he will become an unrestricted free agent and open to suitors from around the league.
Moss reiterated this week that he prefers to remain with the Pats, who resurrected his flagging career, and that he would consider finishing his career with the club. But statements like that are easy to make a month before free agency begins and before the big dollars start flying around on the free-agent market.
But there's more.
Six-year veteran Jabar Gaffney, who started seven of the last eight regular-season games, is in the final season of the two-year contract he signed in 2006 and can become an unrestricted free agent. So can 15-year veteran Troy Brown, who signed just a one-year contract last spring.
Donte' Stallworth, who began the year as a starter then lost snaps to Gaffney, signed what was reported by some media outlets as a six-year, $33.1 million contract as an unrestricted free agent last spring. But the contract actually was a one-year deal worth $3.6 million, with an option for five more years. To exercise that option, New England must pay Stallworth a $6 million bonus by Feb. 25.
Stallworth, a six-year veteran, was a solid player in 2007, with 46 catches for 697 yards and three scores. But the Pats almost certainly won't write the $6 million option-bonus check to keep him around. Stallworth is also due a $2 million roster bonus on March 1, and total compensation of $11 million for 2008.
One potential scenario is that the club approaches Stallworth about reworking the contract. If he declines, the Pats would probably bypass the option and allow Stallworth to go free.
"I'd like to stick around, definitely, but it's [premature] to talk about it," Stallworth said. "We'll just have to wait and see how it all comes down."
Another wide receiver, five-year veteran Kelley Washington, who hasn't caught a pass all season, carries a similarly structured contract.
Washington, whose biggest contribution has been on special teams (he registered 18 tackles), earned $1.006 million in bonuses and salary for 2007. But to trigger the option that adds four more years to Washington's contract, New England has to pay him a $4 million bonus by March 8. As much as the Patriots admire the way that Washington bought into the team-first philosophy and embraced his special teams role, they won't pay the bonus.
The contract that Welker signed as part of the trade that sent him from Miami to the Pats, can be for five years and worth $18.184 million. Welker received an initial signing bonus of $5.5 million and is due an option bonus of $3.5 million this spring. But the option bonus due Welker is guaranteed, so it will be paid, and the four additional years of the contract will be triggered.
The New England organization is so good that it's hard to imagine club officials won't work out deals with some of the wide receivers who are facing uncertain futures. But the team that worked so hard in 2007 to assemble such an impressive wide receiver corps might have to work just as hard this spring to hold most of it together.
Around the League
• Labor unrest? After recent comments by owners Pat Bowlen of Denver and New England's Robert Kraft that indicated they feel the NFL's collective bargaining agreement is too favorable to the players -- and hinting that owners may exercise their right to opt out of the agreement in November -- NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw came to the union's annual session with the media on Thursday loaded for bear.
"We're not hockey players and they're not hockey owners," said Upshaw, referring to the most recent NHL labor agreement in which players agreed to givebacks to end their long work stoppage. "[The owners' rhetoric] always means, 'Give us something back.' Well, that's not going to happen on this watch. … We're not going to agree to a deal that rolls back [anything]. … We're getting 60 percent of the revenues, and when it's all said and done, we're not giving any of it back."
Ever since approving the extension to the CBA, owners have viewed it as lopsided. Wayne Weaver of Jacksonville, a small-market owner who had vowed to block the extension and then caved, has called the labor accord "unsustainable" for the long term. Kraft said here this week that the CBA seems like a bad deal for owners and it might need to be revisited. The players also have the right to opt out of the deal in November of 2008 or 2009, but it's the owners who appear poised to make such a move, which would mean the 2010 season would be an "uncapped" year.
A tough-talking Upshaw, who has come under plenty of criticism on a lot of fronts lately, including the suggestion he is too cozy with commissioner Roger Goodell, vowed that, if the league ever gets to an uncapped season, there will never again be a cap. He said that he will prepare his constituents for four scenarios: a strike, a lockout, decertification of the union or an extension. He acknowledged that, given the recent rhetoric, he expects owners to terminate the CBA. He then repeated his stance that there will not be any givebacks.
"I don't want the owners to believe there is a Santa Claus, because there isn't," Upshaw said. "I think they have to learn to survive with their 40 percent."
• HGH testing: While supporting the need for more reliable HGH testing, Upshaw said there is nothing to discuss right now, because there is no such mechanism and the league's players are steadfast in opposing blood tests. "We're not afraid of the results," Upshaw said, rather defiantly. But then, during a session in which he avoided putting his foot in his mouth and did not lose control of his emotions, Upshaw essentially claimed that players oppose blood testing, in part, because they don't like needles.
"They may be big, tough guys, but they don't want to be stuck like pin-cushions," Upshaw said. "They don't even like having their fingers pricked."
Geez, we know a few players in the NFL who are diabetic, and have to test their blood-sugar levels several times a day. Wonder how they get by.
• Mankins vs. Tuck: If you're looking for what might arguably be the most critical individual matchup in Super Bowl XLII for Sunday, focus on the third-down battle between New England left guard Logan Mankins and New York defensive end Justin Tuck, who quietly had a terrific season for a Giants unit that led the NFL in sacks. Tuck, who registered 10 sacks, moves inside on most passing downs, and is always aligned over the opposition's left guard; he uses his superior quickness to penetrate and disrupt.
"He's a tremendous athlete," said Mankins, who some feel is the NFL's best guard, "and he's one of those guys who it's hard to get a handle on as a rusher. He really does a good job of playing off what the guard does, reacting and countering, and trying to get inside of you. I've got a lot of respect for him."
The New England interior trio of Mankins, center Dan Koppen and the right guard combination of Stephen Neal and Russ Hochstein collectively gave up only one sack during the regular season. Brady is likely to be at least a little gimpy because of his sprained right ankle, so the interior threesome can't afford to allow any quick penetration Sunday night.
• Pacman update: Commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated here this week that he will not review the status of banished Tennessee cornerback Pacman Jones until after the Pro Bowl on Feb. 10. But Titans officials aren't waiting for a resolution of Jones' season-long suspension to begin making contingency plans. The Titans recently met with representatives for Jones, to discuss options, and there was no determination yet on how to proceed. But based on comments made by coach Jeff Fisher in the past, Jones isn't likely to be welcomed back, even if Goodell clears him to play in 2008.
The most likely scenario is trading Jones, even though the market will be soft, and there is no way Tennessee will ever get compensation approximating the cornerback's skill level. It's hard to predict which team or teams might have an interest in surrendering even a middle-round choice for Jones. But the guy is so talented that, even with his off-field baggage, someone will pursue him.
• Lions dangling Rogers? Reacting to reports that Detroit would either trade or release talented but temperamental defensive tackle Shaun Rogers, coach Rod Marinelli said this week that the Lions will not cut the seven-year veteran. But he did suggest the Lions might field trade offers for Rogers, who was once considered a potential centerpiece on Detroit's defense but has been hindered by a lack of motivation and weight issues.
It will take a pretty big swallow for the Lions to give up on the 28-year-old Rogers, but they seem poised to do so for the right offer. Expect the Denver Broncos, who have a particular fondness for wayward defensive linemen, to be interested. The Lions might also dangle wide receiver Roy Williams in trade talks around the league.
• What now for Williams? It's still puzzling that the Washington Redskins didn't choose defensive coordinator Gregg Williams to succeed Joe Gibbs as head coach -- especially considering the support he had from players. But no one can figure out the crazy machinations of Washington owner Dan Snyder, so we'll probably never know why Williams was passed over for a position he was considered the heir apparent for.
It's going to be interesting now to see where Williams lands, because most coordinator jobs in the league are filled. Williams interviewed with Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio for the defensive coordinator vacancy created when Mike Smith left to become the new Atlanta head coach. But it's hard to see two guys with the egos of Del Rio and Williams coexisting. The more likely scenario is that Del Rio will promote either linebackers coach Mark Duffner or recently hired defensive assistant Donnie Henderson into the coordinator slot. Both men have served as NFL defensive coordinators in the past.
Williams might well be left to consider position-coach openings -- like the one in St. Louis, where the Rams are still looking for a secondary coach -- but that would be a step down. If that's all that is available, Williams might simply cash checks on the one year remaining on his contract with the Redskins, at a salary of about $2.6 million, and sit out the 2008 season. There have been several former coordinators who have accepted position roles recently -- Ray Rhodes signed on with Houston this week as the No. 2 secondary coach and Dom Capers is considering an offer to coach the Dallas linebackers -- but Williams might not be inclined to take such a step backward.
• Bengals considering 3-4: After five seasons of shoddy defensive play, and a unit that in 2007 statistically ranked 27th in the league, Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis is believed to have decided to convert to a 3-4 front for 2008. Publicly, the Bengals say that Lewis and recently hired defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer are still considering the switch, and that they haven't settled yet on their preference. But sources indicate Lewis is already studying potential free agents, like Arizona linebacker Calvin Pace, who have played in a 3-4 front and might be able to help the Bengals in their transition. Zimmer has experience with both fronts -- having worked under Bill Parcells in Dallas, where the Cowboys played a 3-4 -- but was always thought to be more of a 4-3 guy.
• Pace in demand: Look for Pace, a five-year veteran, to be one of the surprisingly hot players in the unrestricted free-agent market. A first-round pick of the Cardinals in the 2003 draft, Pace struggled at defensive end his first three seasons, and there were rumblings Arizona might release him. But the former Wake Forest standout flourished in 2007, when he moved into the starting lineup at linebacker because of injuries to Chike Okeafor and Bertrand Berry, and registered seven sacks. Pace has good explosion off the edge, is only 27 years old and several pro personnel directors have told ESPN.com that he should quickly develop into a double-digit sack guy if he stays with a 3-4 team.
Cardinals vice president of football operations Rod Graves has begun preliminary discussions on a contract extension for Pace, but the suspicion is that Arizona management is going to be surprised by how big -- and how pricey -- a market there is for him in free agency. The Cardinals, who are also trying to negotiate an extension with linebacker Karlos Dansby, another pending unrestricted free agent, might be hard pressed to retain either defender.
Larry Fitzgerald
Wide Receiver
Arizona Cardinals
Profile
2007 Season Stats Rec Yds TD Avg Long YAC
100 1409 10 14.1 48 296
• Pricey Fitzgerald: The Cardinals also desperately need to discuss reworking the contract of two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Because of so-called "escalator" clauses in the lucrative contract that Fitzgerald signed as the third overall selection in the 2004 draft, his base salaries for the next two seasons are $14.6 million in 2008 and $17.4 million in 2009. His cap charge for next season is a staggering $16.5 million. Fitzgerald has already been the subject of trade rumors, but reiterated at a Super Bowl-related function here this week that his preference is to remain with the Cardinals. The team almost certainly is going to have to restructuring his deal, to lower his cap charges, by negotiating a new contract with a fat signing bonus -- like up-front money in excess of $20 million.
When Fitzgerald's original contract was negotiated by agent Eugene Parker in 2004, those who studied it closely predicted that it would be a monster deal if the former University of Pittsburgh wide receiver played well enough to trigger the escalator clauses. Fitzgerald, who posted 100-reception in two of the past three years and is still only 24 old despite having been in the league for four seasons, is one of the few first-round wideouts of late to live up to the hype. He said this week that he is leaving the business side of the game up to Parker, and has no idea where negotiations stand. One way or another, though, Fitzgerald is going to be a very wealthy young man.
• Dolphins' o-coordinator search: As of Thursday night, Miami rookie head coach Tony Sparano had yet to hire an offensive coordinator, fueling speculation he is waiting until after Super Bowl XLII, when he'll seek permission from the New York Giants to speak to quarterbacks coach Chris Palmer about the vacancy. But don't count on it. Sources told ESPN.com that the Dolphins aren't interested in Palmer, who has been a patron saint to the new Miami coach for much of his professional career, bringing Sparano into the league with Cleveland in 2000.
The Dolphins have attempted to pry New Orleans quarterbacks coach Pete Carmichael away for the coordinator post, but the Saints, reportedly at the behest of quarterback, Drew Brees, have declined to let him depart. Sparano has also interviewed former Atlanta offensive coordinator Hue Jackson for the opening. Miami hasn't announced anything yet about Dan Henning, but word is that the venerable NFL assistant and longtime Bill Parcells crony has landed a job on the staff. Henning has been at the Dolphins' complex in recent weeks and, while no one seems to know yet what his title will be, he's got a position on Sparano's first staff.
• New league spreading wealth: Yet another upstart football league, the United Football League, is scheduled to kick off in August, playing on Friday nights in eight cities. The launch of another league has brought predictable yawns from NFL officials, and rightfully so, given the history of failed start-up competitors. But if what UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue was telling agents with whom he met at the Senior Bowl all-star game in Mobile, Ala., is true, the NFL might want to pay at least a little attention. And more so on the coach than on the player front. Agents who huddled with Huyghue, a former Jacksonville Jaguars official and onetime player agent himself, claim that he is pitching three-year guaranteed contracts for UFL head coaches, and with seven-figure salaries and a respectable budget for hiring assistants.
According to agents who spoke with Huyghue, the commissioner said general managers in the UFL will make about $500,000 annually and also be guaranteed three-year contracts. None of the people to whom we spoke are running to make deals with the UFL for their coaching clients, and many of them who know Huyghue figure he's selling pie in the sky. But several did acknowledge that, if the numbers and guarantees he is talking about are true, they have clients -- longtime assistants who might never get a chance to be a head coach in the NFL -- who might be interested. The UFL has recruited Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban and several other high-rollers as owners. It's believed that Donald Trump, who once owned the New York/New Jersey Generals franchise in the USFL, is among them.
• The List: There have been 13 Super Bowl championships won by quarterbacks who wore uniform No. 12 for the title game, including three of them by Brady. That's the most successful uniform number for a Super Bowl-winning quarterback. Here are the famous No. 12's who have won Super Bowl championships, and the number of titles that each won: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh (four); Brady (three); Bob Griese, Miami (two); Roger Staubach, Dallas (two); Joe Namath, New York Jets (one); and Ken Stabler, Oakland (one).
• Stat of the Week: The Giants' defense led the NFL in sacks during the regular season, with 53 quarterback takedowns, an average of one sack every 10.9 opposition "dropbacks." In its three playoff victories, however, the New York defense has registered only three sacks against quarterbacks Jeff Garcia (Tampa Bay), Tony Romo (Dallas) and Brett Favre (Green Bay), in 113 "dropbacks." That's a sack every 37.7 pass plays, or more than three times worse than the Giants' rate during the regular season. Counting New England's two playoff victories, Brady has been sacked just once every 27.6 "dropbacks" this season. In the regular-season finale between the teams, the Giants sacked Brady just once in 43 "dropbacks."
• Punts: For what it's worth, a couple New England assistant coaches privately feel the outcome of Super Bowl XLII will be determined by which staff makes the best in-game adjustments. And since few coaches are better than Bill Belichick at that part of the game, they like their chances. … It appears that New York Jets defensive coordinator Bob Sutton, who only two weeks ago had one foot out the door, will retain his job. The Jets had been eyeing Rob Ryan as a potential replacement, but the Oakland Raiders will not release him from his contract. … The initial reaction when the Atlanta Falcons hired Mike Smith as their new head coach was that the move might help the career of quarterback Byron Leftwich, because of his familiarity with Smith from their years together in Jacksonville. But the word is that, although Smith will keep an open mind on the quarterback situation, he's not necessarily a big Leftwich fan. … The well-orchestrated campaign by wide receiver Chad Johnson to talk his way out of Cincinnati, with the Pro Bowl wide receiver taking to the air waves to suggest he would welcome a trade, isn't playing too well with Bengals' ownership. But Johnson's strategy, clearly aimed at angering management so much that it deals him away, might have the opposite effect. It's believed that Cincinnati owner Mike Brown has no intention of dealing Johnson, and that he'll hold him to a contract that runs through 2011. … Tampa Bay, which still has an opening for a running backs coach, has offered the job to longtime Bucs fullback Mike Alstott, who retired last week. Alstott turned down the job, but there is a chance he will reconsider, and it's not yet a dead issue. … Cleveland has offered quarterback Derek Anderson, who was the catalyst for the Browns' offensive turnaround in 2007 and is eligible for restricted free agency, a three-year contract. Anderson's representatives are seeking a five-year deal.
• The Last Word: "That is his little 'woobie.' It's his little security blanket. He has that pouch and he keeps all his stuff in there. You'd like to see what's inside that pouch, I'll bet. So would we." -- New England linebacker Mike Vrabel on the gray hoodie that coach Bill Belichick wears for most games
Senior writer Len Pasquarelli covers the NFL for ESPN.com.
Pats possibly bracing for another WR overhaul
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By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
PHOENIX -- The New England Patriots will seek a fourth Super Bowl title in seven seasons on Sunday evening armed with a contingent of fleet wide receivers.
But in only a few weeks, because of the manner in which New England management structured the contracts of most of the veteran pass-catchers the team acquired in the spring of 2006, the group could suddenly become a bunch of fleeting wide receivers.
In fact, of the seven wideouts on the Patriots' roster for Super Bowl XLII, only two, Wes Welker and Chad Jackson, are under contract for the 2008 campaign. And Jackson, a second-round choice in 2006, has appeared in only 14 games in two seasons, with just 13 career catches.
"We're going to face some decisions as an organization, and some of the [wide receivers] are going to face decisions, too," vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli acknowledged to ESPN.com this week. "It's not something that we're ready to address yet, because we still have a game to play. But it will have to be addressed fairly quickly. And, right now, there's no way of knowing how things will evolve."
Patriots QB Tom Brady completed 398 passes for 4,806 yards and 50 touchdowns in 2007. But counting all reception-eligible players, New England technically could be without the players who combined for more than 50 percent of that production by the start of next season. That isn't likely, but it is possible. New England has so many receivers who will either be eligible for free agency or due hefty option bonuses after the season that the Patriots may be reluctant to pay out.
The list begins with Randy Moss, who renegotiated his Oakland Raiders' contract -- taking less money for 2007 and agreeing to reduce the deal to one year -- when he was acquired by the Pats in an April 29 trade. As reported earlier this week by ESPN.com, a technicality in the collective bargaining agreement precludes the Pats from extending Moss' contract before free agency begins. So unless New England designates Moss as a franchise player, which would mean a one-year tender at $7.848 million, he will become an unrestricted free agent and open to suitors from around the league.
Moss reiterated this week that he prefers to remain with the Pats, who resurrected his flagging career, and that he would consider finishing his career with the club. But statements like that are easy to make a month before free agency begins and before the big dollars start flying around on the free-agent market.
But there's more.
Six-year veteran Jabar Gaffney, who started seven of the last eight regular-season games, is in the final season of the two-year contract he signed in 2006 and can become an unrestricted free agent. So can 15-year veteran Troy Brown, who signed just a one-year contract last spring.
Donte' Stallworth, who began the year as a starter then lost snaps to Gaffney, signed what was reported by some media outlets as a six-year, $33.1 million contract as an unrestricted free agent last spring. But the contract actually was a one-year deal worth $3.6 million, with an option for five more years. To exercise that option, New England must pay Stallworth a $6 million bonus by Feb. 25.
Stallworth, a six-year veteran, was a solid player in 2007, with 46 catches for 697 yards and three scores. But the Pats almost certainly won't write the $6 million option-bonus check to keep him around. Stallworth is also due a $2 million roster bonus on March 1, and total compensation of $11 million for 2008.
One potential scenario is that the club approaches Stallworth about reworking the contract. If he declines, the Pats would probably bypass the option and allow Stallworth to go free.
"I'd like to stick around, definitely, but it's [premature] to talk about it," Stallworth said. "We'll just have to wait and see how it all comes down."
Another wide receiver, five-year veteran Kelley Washington, who hasn't caught a pass all season, carries a similarly structured contract.
Washington, whose biggest contribution has been on special teams (he registered 18 tackles), earned $1.006 million in bonuses and salary for 2007. But to trigger the option that adds four more years to Washington's contract, New England has to pay him a $4 million bonus by March 8. As much as the Patriots admire the way that Washington bought into the team-first philosophy and embraced his special teams role, they won't pay the bonus.
The contract that Welker signed as part of the trade that sent him from Miami to the Pats, can be for five years and worth $18.184 million. Welker received an initial signing bonus of $5.5 million and is due an option bonus of $3.5 million this spring. But the option bonus due Welker is guaranteed, so it will be paid, and the four additional years of the contract will be triggered.
The New England organization is so good that it's hard to imagine club officials won't work out deals with some of the wide receivers who are facing uncertain futures. But the team that worked so hard in 2007 to assemble such an impressive wide receiver corps might have to work just as hard this spring to hold most of it together.
Around the League
• Labor unrest? After recent comments by owners Pat Bowlen of Denver and New England's Robert Kraft that indicated they feel the NFL's collective bargaining agreement is too favorable to the players -- and hinting that owners may exercise their right to opt out of the agreement in November -- NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw came to the union's annual session with the media on Thursday loaded for bear.
"We're not hockey players and they're not hockey owners," said Upshaw, referring to the most recent NHL labor agreement in which players agreed to givebacks to end their long work stoppage. "[The owners' rhetoric] always means, 'Give us something back.' Well, that's not going to happen on this watch. … We're not going to agree to a deal that rolls back [anything]. … We're getting 60 percent of the revenues, and when it's all said and done, we're not giving any of it back."
Ever since approving the extension to the CBA, owners have viewed it as lopsided. Wayne Weaver of Jacksonville, a small-market owner who had vowed to block the extension and then caved, has called the labor accord "unsustainable" for the long term. Kraft said here this week that the CBA seems like a bad deal for owners and it might need to be revisited. The players also have the right to opt out of the deal in November of 2008 or 2009, but it's the owners who appear poised to make such a move, which would mean the 2010 season would be an "uncapped" year.
A tough-talking Upshaw, who has come under plenty of criticism on a lot of fronts lately, including the suggestion he is too cozy with commissioner Roger Goodell, vowed that, if the league ever gets to an uncapped season, there will never again be a cap. He said that he will prepare his constituents for four scenarios: a strike, a lockout, decertification of the union or an extension. He acknowledged that, given the recent rhetoric, he expects owners to terminate the CBA. He then repeated his stance that there will not be any givebacks.
"I don't want the owners to believe there is a Santa Claus, because there isn't," Upshaw said. "I think they have to learn to survive with their 40 percent."
• HGH testing: While supporting the need for more reliable HGH testing, Upshaw said there is nothing to discuss right now, because there is no such mechanism and the league's players are steadfast in opposing blood tests. "We're not afraid of the results," Upshaw said, rather defiantly. But then, during a session in which he avoided putting his foot in his mouth and did not lose control of his emotions, Upshaw essentially claimed that players oppose blood testing, in part, because they don't like needles.
"They may be big, tough guys, but they don't want to be stuck like pin-cushions," Upshaw said. "They don't even like having their fingers pricked."
Geez, we know a few players in the NFL who are diabetic, and have to test their blood-sugar levels several times a day. Wonder how they get by.
• Mankins vs. Tuck: If you're looking for what might arguably be the most critical individual matchup in Super Bowl XLII for Sunday, focus on the third-down battle between New England left guard Logan Mankins and New York defensive end Justin Tuck, who quietly had a terrific season for a Giants unit that led the NFL in sacks. Tuck, who registered 10 sacks, moves inside on most passing downs, and is always aligned over the opposition's left guard; he uses his superior quickness to penetrate and disrupt.
"He's a tremendous athlete," said Mankins, who some feel is the NFL's best guard, "and he's one of those guys who it's hard to get a handle on as a rusher. He really does a good job of playing off what the guard does, reacting and countering, and trying to get inside of you. I've got a lot of respect for him."
The New England interior trio of Mankins, center Dan Koppen and the right guard combination of Stephen Neal and Russ Hochstein collectively gave up only one sack during the regular season. Brady is likely to be at least a little gimpy because of his sprained right ankle, so the interior threesome can't afford to allow any quick penetration Sunday night.
• Pacman update: Commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated here this week that he will not review the status of banished Tennessee cornerback Pacman Jones until after the Pro Bowl on Feb. 10. But Titans officials aren't waiting for a resolution of Jones' season-long suspension to begin making contingency plans. The Titans recently met with representatives for Jones, to discuss options, and there was no determination yet on how to proceed. But based on comments made by coach Jeff Fisher in the past, Jones isn't likely to be welcomed back, even if Goodell clears him to play in 2008.
The most likely scenario is trading Jones, even though the market will be soft, and there is no way Tennessee will ever get compensation approximating the cornerback's skill level. It's hard to predict which team or teams might have an interest in surrendering even a middle-round choice for Jones. But the guy is so talented that, even with his off-field baggage, someone will pursue him.
• Lions dangling Rogers? Reacting to reports that Detroit would either trade or release talented but temperamental defensive tackle Shaun Rogers, coach Rod Marinelli said this week that the Lions will not cut the seven-year veteran. But he did suggest the Lions might field trade offers for Rogers, who was once considered a potential centerpiece on Detroit's defense but has been hindered by a lack of motivation and weight issues.
It will take a pretty big swallow for the Lions to give up on the 28-year-old Rogers, but they seem poised to do so for the right offer. Expect the Denver Broncos, who have a particular fondness for wayward defensive linemen, to be interested. The Lions might also dangle wide receiver Roy Williams in trade talks around the league.
• What now for Williams? It's still puzzling that the Washington Redskins didn't choose defensive coordinator Gregg Williams to succeed Joe Gibbs as head coach -- especially considering the support he had from players. But no one can figure out the crazy machinations of Washington owner Dan Snyder, so we'll probably never know why Williams was passed over for a position he was considered the heir apparent for.
It's going to be interesting now to see where Williams lands, because most coordinator jobs in the league are filled. Williams interviewed with Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio for the defensive coordinator vacancy created when Mike Smith left to become the new Atlanta head coach. But it's hard to see two guys with the egos of Del Rio and Williams coexisting. The more likely scenario is that Del Rio will promote either linebackers coach Mark Duffner or recently hired defensive assistant Donnie Henderson into the coordinator slot. Both men have served as NFL defensive coordinators in the past.
Williams might well be left to consider position-coach openings -- like the one in St. Louis, where the Rams are still looking for a secondary coach -- but that would be a step down. If that's all that is available, Williams might simply cash checks on the one year remaining on his contract with the Redskins, at a salary of about $2.6 million, and sit out the 2008 season. There have been several former coordinators who have accepted position roles recently -- Ray Rhodes signed on with Houston this week as the No. 2 secondary coach and Dom Capers is considering an offer to coach the Dallas linebackers -- but Williams might not be inclined to take such a step backward.
• Bengals considering 3-4: After five seasons of shoddy defensive play, and a unit that in 2007 statistically ranked 27th in the league, Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis is believed to have decided to convert to a 3-4 front for 2008. Publicly, the Bengals say that Lewis and recently hired defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer are still considering the switch, and that they haven't settled yet on their preference. But sources indicate Lewis is already studying potential free agents, like Arizona linebacker Calvin Pace, who have played in a 3-4 front and might be able to help the Bengals in their transition. Zimmer has experience with both fronts -- having worked under Bill Parcells in Dallas, where the Cowboys played a 3-4 -- but was always thought to be more of a 4-3 guy.
• Pace in demand: Look for Pace, a five-year veteran, to be one of the surprisingly hot players in the unrestricted free-agent market. A first-round pick of the Cardinals in the 2003 draft, Pace struggled at defensive end his first three seasons, and there were rumblings Arizona might release him. But the former Wake Forest standout flourished in 2007, when he moved into the starting lineup at linebacker because of injuries to Chike Okeafor and Bertrand Berry, and registered seven sacks. Pace has good explosion off the edge, is only 27 years old and several pro personnel directors have told ESPN.com that he should quickly develop into a double-digit sack guy if he stays with a 3-4 team.
Cardinals vice president of football operations Rod Graves has begun preliminary discussions on a contract extension for Pace, but the suspicion is that Arizona management is going to be surprised by how big -- and how pricey -- a market there is for him in free agency. The Cardinals, who are also trying to negotiate an extension with linebacker Karlos Dansby, another pending unrestricted free agent, might be hard pressed to retain either defender.
Larry Fitzgerald
Wide Receiver
Arizona Cardinals
Profile
2007 Season Stats Rec Yds TD Avg Long YAC
100 1409 10 14.1 48 296
• Pricey Fitzgerald: The Cardinals also desperately need to discuss reworking the contract of two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Because of so-called "escalator" clauses in the lucrative contract that Fitzgerald signed as the third overall selection in the 2004 draft, his base salaries for the next two seasons are $14.6 million in 2008 and $17.4 million in 2009. His cap charge for next season is a staggering $16.5 million. Fitzgerald has already been the subject of trade rumors, but reiterated at a Super Bowl-related function here this week that his preference is to remain with the Cardinals. The team almost certainly is going to have to restructuring his deal, to lower his cap charges, by negotiating a new contract with a fat signing bonus -- like up-front money in excess of $20 million.
When Fitzgerald's original contract was negotiated by agent Eugene Parker in 2004, those who studied it closely predicted that it would be a monster deal if the former University of Pittsburgh wide receiver played well enough to trigger the escalator clauses. Fitzgerald, who posted 100-reception in two of the past three years and is still only 24 old despite having been in the league for four seasons, is one of the few first-round wideouts of late to live up to the hype. He said this week that he is leaving the business side of the game up to Parker, and has no idea where negotiations stand. One way or another, though, Fitzgerald is going to be a very wealthy young man.
• Dolphins' o-coordinator search: As of Thursday night, Miami rookie head coach Tony Sparano had yet to hire an offensive coordinator, fueling speculation he is waiting until after Super Bowl XLII, when he'll seek permission from the New York Giants to speak to quarterbacks coach Chris Palmer about the vacancy. But don't count on it. Sources told ESPN.com that the Dolphins aren't interested in Palmer, who has been a patron saint to the new Miami coach for much of his professional career, bringing Sparano into the league with Cleveland in 2000.
The Dolphins have attempted to pry New Orleans quarterbacks coach Pete Carmichael away for the coordinator post, but the Saints, reportedly at the behest of quarterback, Drew Brees, have declined to let him depart. Sparano has also interviewed former Atlanta offensive coordinator Hue Jackson for the opening. Miami hasn't announced anything yet about Dan Henning, but word is that the venerable NFL assistant and longtime Bill Parcells crony has landed a job on the staff. Henning has been at the Dolphins' complex in recent weeks and, while no one seems to know yet what his title will be, he's got a position on Sparano's first staff.
• New league spreading wealth: Yet another upstart football league, the United Football League, is scheduled to kick off in August, playing on Friday nights in eight cities. The launch of another league has brought predictable yawns from NFL officials, and rightfully so, given the history of failed start-up competitors. But if what UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue was telling agents with whom he met at the Senior Bowl all-star game in Mobile, Ala., is true, the NFL might want to pay at least a little attention. And more so on the coach than on the player front. Agents who huddled with Huyghue, a former Jacksonville Jaguars official and onetime player agent himself, claim that he is pitching three-year guaranteed contracts for UFL head coaches, and with seven-figure salaries and a respectable budget for hiring assistants.
According to agents who spoke with Huyghue, the commissioner said general managers in the UFL will make about $500,000 annually and also be guaranteed three-year contracts. None of the people to whom we spoke are running to make deals with the UFL for their coaching clients, and many of them who know Huyghue figure he's selling pie in the sky. But several did acknowledge that, if the numbers and guarantees he is talking about are true, they have clients -- longtime assistants who might never get a chance to be a head coach in the NFL -- who might be interested. The UFL has recruited Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban and several other high-rollers as owners. It's believed that Donald Trump, who once owned the New York/New Jersey Generals franchise in the USFL, is among them.
• The List: There have been 13 Super Bowl championships won by quarterbacks who wore uniform No. 12 for the title game, including three of them by Brady. That's the most successful uniform number for a Super Bowl-winning quarterback. Here are the famous No. 12's who have won Super Bowl championships, and the number of titles that each won: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh (four); Brady (three); Bob Griese, Miami (two); Roger Staubach, Dallas (two); Joe Namath, New York Jets (one); and Ken Stabler, Oakland (one).
• Stat of the Week: The Giants' defense led the NFL in sacks during the regular season, with 53 quarterback takedowns, an average of one sack every 10.9 opposition "dropbacks." In its three playoff victories, however, the New York defense has registered only three sacks against quarterbacks Jeff Garcia (Tampa Bay), Tony Romo (Dallas) and Brett Favre (Green Bay), in 113 "dropbacks." That's a sack every 37.7 pass plays, or more than three times worse than the Giants' rate during the regular season. Counting New England's two playoff victories, Brady has been sacked just once every 27.6 "dropbacks" this season. In the regular-season finale between the teams, the Giants sacked Brady just once in 43 "dropbacks."
• Punts: For what it's worth, a couple New England assistant coaches privately feel the outcome of Super Bowl XLII will be determined by which staff makes the best in-game adjustments. And since few coaches are better than Bill Belichick at that part of the game, they like their chances. … It appears that New York Jets defensive coordinator Bob Sutton, who only two weeks ago had one foot out the door, will retain his job. The Jets had been eyeing Rob Ryan as a potential replacement, but the Oakland Raiders will not release him from his contract. … The initial reaction when the Atlanta Falcons hired Mike Smith as their new head coach was that the move might help the career of quarterback Byron Leftwich, because of his familiarity with Smith from their years together in Jacksonville. But the word is that, although Smith will keep an open mind on the quarterback situation, he's not necessarily a big Leftwich fan. … The well-orchestrated campaign by wide receiver Chad Johnson to talk his way out of Cincinnati, with the Pro Bowl wide receiver taking to the air waves to suggest he would welcome a trade, isn't playing too well with Bengals' ownership. But Johnson's strategy, clearly aimed at angering management so much that it deals him away, might have the opposite effect. It's believed that Cincinnati owner Mike Brown has no intention of dealing Johnson, and that he'll hold him to a contract that runs through 2011. … Tampa Bay, which still has an opening for a running backs coach, has offered the job to longtime Bucs fullback Mike Alstott, who retired last week. Alstott turned down the job, but there is a chance he will reconsider, and it's not yet a dead issue. … Cleveland has offered quarterback Derek Anderson, who was the catalyst for the Browns' offensive turnaround in 2007 and is eligible for restricted free agency, a three-year contract. Anderson's representatives are seeking a five-year deal.
• The Last Word: "That is his little 'woobie.' It's his little security blanket. He has that pouch and he keeps all his stuff in there. You'd like to see what's inside that pouch, I'll bet. So would we." -- New England linebacker Mike Vrabel on the gray hoodie that coach Bill Belichick wears for most games
Senior writer Len Pasquarelli covers the NFL for ESPN.com.
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