NFLaccess

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Panthers, Seahawks, NFL Free Agency

The Seahawks landed arguably the top player in the 2009 draft with the fourth pick, then followed it up by drafting a center/guard who should start soon after the team was willing to trade away its third and fourth-round picks to move up.

But if there was one position of dire need that Seattle didn’t address in the draft, it was cornerback, where the team was relying on disappointing former first-round pick Kelly Jennings and Josh Wilson to occupy the spot opposite Marcus Trufant.

But we found out today why the Seahawks weren’t that worried about drafting a corner on Sunday–they signed a veteran instead, bringing back Ken Lucas five years after he left to head to Carolina as a free agent. Lucas’ signing is the first benefit from the cap room brought about by dumping the franchise tag on Leroy Hill. The Seattle Times is reporting that the ‘Hawks added fullback Justin Griffith as well. Griffith fills the hole left when starting fullback Leonard Weaver left to sign a free agent deal with the Eagles.

by Matt Snyder

Filed under: Bears, NFC North, NFL Draft, NFL Free Agency, NFL Rumors

Ever since the Bears landed Jay Cutler, the media and fans alike have flooded the internet with bashing of the Bears receiving corps. Raise your hand if you’ve either said, heard someone say, or read someone else saying “Who’s he going to throw to?” I’ll just assume all hands are raised.

After drafting three Day 2 receivers, the Bears now have a group consisting of Devin Hester, Earl Bennett (pictured), Juaquin Iglesias, Rashied Davis, Johnny Knox and Derek Kinder. Yeah, yeah, I know: Cue the laugh track. Bears general manager Jerry Angelo, however, doesn’t believe he needs to add anything via free agency. He’s counting specifically on massive growth from Bennett, last year’s third-round pick.

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Steelers, AFC North, NFL Draft, NFL Free Agency

Even though the Steelers don’t pick until No. 22, they’ve already made some news today with the news that they re-upped Hines Ward for four more years. Throw in the news from yesterday that they have signed cornerback Keiwan Ratliff to a one-year deal and the Steelers have somewhat solved two of their pressing draft needs before the draft even began.

By re-upping Ward, the Steelers now have their top two wide receivers locked up through 2010 and have Limas Sweed to develop as the No. 3 receiver. While you would like to have some insurance in case Sweed doesn’t pan out, wide receiver is now a late-round need, not a first, second or third-round need.

Steelers Pre-Draft Moves Help Clear Up Draft Plans originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:54:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

by Josh Alper

Filed under: Broncos, AFC West, NFL Draft

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse’s team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

“You go into this thing understanding that you’re not going to fix everything that you may want to fix.”

That’s Broncos coach Josh McDaniels speaking, likely about the team’s failure to improve their awful run defense. He’s speaking the truth. There were too many issues facing Denver for them to solve them all over the course of seven rounds.

McDaniels’ wisdom does nothing to explain why the team chose to trade away its 2010 first-round pick so they could draft cornerback Alphonso Smith in the second round, however. That seems more like creating a problem where none existed, something that could easily come back to haunt the Broncos in a year’s time.

by JJ Cooper

Filed under: Falcons, NFC South, NFL Draft

When Thomas Dimitroff took the Falcons general manager job last year, he was given the job of rebuilding one of the league’s worst rosters. So we knew that Dimitroff would be making some serious changes.

But it’s pretty impressive how much of a turnover he’s given the team so fast. As Dimitroff comes out of his second draft, nealy half of the Falcons projected starters this season will be players that he has brought in since taking over the team. That’s 10 starters in two years.

Dimitroff Quickly Putting His Stamp on the Falcons Roster originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:21:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

nfl_experts__13/ept_sports_nfl_experts-617628974-1240687658.jpg?ymqgPKBDZRa7KpAO” vspace=”8″ />

I don’t know if the Rams are going to take Mark Sanchez with the 2nd overall
pick, and if they do take him, I don’t know if they’ll be taking him for
themselves, or someone else. I suggested during our mock draft that it’s not out
of the question.

There’s a lot of chatter about the fact that nfl.com/2009/04/24/rams-buy-sunday-plane-ticket-for-qb-sanchez/”>they’ve
purchased a plane ticket for him, according to Steve Wyche at nfl.com. The
ticket would presumably get him from Los Angeles to St. Louis on Sunday for a
press conference.

And if that did happen, does it put nfl/players/5197/”>Marc Bulger in play for a trade? Is the
plane ticket all a ruse to get someone else to trade up? If so, what’s the
airline’s policy of frequent flier miles for ruse tickets? These Rams are crazy,
I tell you.

Anyway, thanks to the Rams for mixing some suspense back into the top of the
draft. The live blog’s launching in twenty minutes. If you’re not there, you’re
just wasting your Saturday.

Before we get started here, I just want to go on record with this bold prediction: The Lions are going to take Matthew Stafford with the first pick. I don’t know for sure, but sometimes this damned incredible insight that I possess gives me hunches. I feel strongly about this one.

Other than that, this sets up to be a wild and woolly draft, with all the potential trades, the risers and the sliders, and the new craze over Mark Sanchez. Please join us here at 3:45, share your comments and observations, and help us to rock the house.

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=9ce8dcf95d" mce_href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=9ce8dcf95d" >2009 nfl Draft with Shutdown Corner</a>

by Michael David Smith

Filed under: Lions, NFL Draft

The picture above is me, a lifelong Lions fan, holding the jerseys of former Lions quarterbacks Joey Harrington and Charlie Batch. It’s also a cautionary tale for the people thinking of buying Matthew Stafford jerseys, which are on sale now.

Buyer Beware: Matthew Stafford Jerseys Now on Sale originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

by Michael David Smith

Filed under: Patriots, NFL Draft

Rumors have swirled over the last 24 hours that the New England Patriots will trade up into the Top 10 of the NFL draft. But the man who makes the final decision in the Patriots’ war room, coach Bill Belichick, insists that there’s no way he’s moving up.

Bill Belichick: ‘Less Than Zero’ Chance Patriots Trade Into Top 10 originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:04:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

With the nfl draft weekend coming up, I thought this may be of interest to some. Bill Belichick referred to it here, in speaking about how teams model relative pick values and trade them.

The left column for each round is the pick number; the right column the number of points. It shows that, for instance, the first pick of the first round is worth about 5 times as much as the first pick of the second round.

UPDATE: Stephen Dubner just posted on how nfl-draft-pick-a-penalty/”>the top nfl draft pick is overvalued. I think that is a bit imprecise. I would counter that nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80909cc9&template=with-video&confirm=true”>it’s the rookie pay scale, especially for the first 10 or 15 picks in the draft.