NFLaccess

Filed under: NFL Analysis

INDIANAPOLIS — Because nothing beats a forced, gimmicky solution to something that’s not really a problem, the NFL is talking about maybe possibly changing its overtime rules. The “modified sudden death” proposal that’s apparently in its embryonic stages came to light Saturday when an NFL commissioner’s office employee began discussing it on Twitter, and the gist is that the first team to score at least six points in overtime would win the game.

“Both teams would be guaranteed a possession unless first team w/ball scores TD,” tweeted Greg Aiello, the league’s Senior VP of Public Relations. “If first team kicks FG, other team gets ball. If it doesn’t score, game over. If second team w/ball ties it w/FG, game continues till someone scores.”

Cute idea, but sudden-death haters shouldn’t get too excited too fast.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Bills, NFL Free Agency

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Terrell Owens is on the market after the Buffalo Bills announced Saturday they do not plan to offer him a contract.

The Bills also declined to offer contracts to defensive end Ryan Denney and wide receiver Josh Reed, allowing them to become unrestricted free agents at midnight on March 5.

“We wanted to inform all three players ahead of the start of the free agency period so they could begin making their plans,” Bills general manager Buddy Nix said. “We just felt that was the right thing to do. All three have represented our organization with class and we thank them for their dedication and hard work.”

Owens, who will turn 37 in December, caught 55 passes for 829 yards and five touchdowns in his only season in Buffalo. He also ran for a touchdown.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Steelers, NFL Draft

With a defense that is filled with 30-year-olds and an offensive line that has struggled for several years, you would think that Pittsburgh would have lots of different ways to go with its early-round draft picks.

But when you look at the roster a little more closely, what’s clear is that Pittsburgh is keeping the 2008 Super Bowl champs together for one more run at the title. And that means there aren’t a whole lot of positions where a rookie can be expected to see significant playing time.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Jets, NFL Coaching, NFL Free Agency, NFL Analysis

INDIANAPOLIS — Yes, Rex Ryan has regrets. He’s sincerely sorry that his New York Jets didn’t win Super Bowl XLIV his first year as an NFL head coach.

Ryan is really sorry for letting those liquored-up Strikeforce fight fans in South Florida goad him into throwing the camera phone-ready middle-fingered salute at an MMA event during the NFL’s Pro Bowl week. He’s deeply, truly sorry from the bottom of his gut — literally — that he ever decided to swap out that Philadelphia Flyers jersey to Carolina Hurricanes’ attire at a Feb. 9 NHL game in Raleigh, N.C.

The viral video of Ryan’s pasty, corpulent fully exposed belly during that very public wardrobe change — hey, the Hurricanes cheerleaders offered him the jersey! — is the sort of staggering mental image that will make you swear off nacho cheese forever.

“I don’t even know what to say, gosh, it’s been a while since I get to talk about my football team, brag about my football team if you will,” the second-year Jets coach said Saturday while equally large offensive linemen grunted through drills at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I appreciate everybody’s interest in making sure that I was still in the papers and all those other things — the video. Hey, I am working on those abs a little bit, I think.”

The room at Lucas Oil Stadium busted out in laughter — much like Ryan was busting out of that jersey. And so the one-liners continued. You may be sick of hearing about the NFL’s ongoing labor strife. But you can never get enough of Ryan’s off-the-cuff honest shtick, which flows like atta-boy standup comedy in the break room at the local factory.

So, about those bulging abs, Rex …

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Broncos, NFL Analysis

INDIANAPOLIS — Josh McDaniels has had his eyes focused on the NFL combine here and his ears locked on the news flowing from the courtroom back in Denver on the Darrent Williams murder trial. It is a combine ballet that no other NFL coach has had to perform. It is clearly one that McDaniels would rather have skipped.

But he cannot, especially since his star and troubled receiver, Brandon Marshall, on Friday in that Denver courtroom jolted the proceedings with his admission that he escalated a fight with the men charged with the early New Year’s Day 2007 shooting.

McDaniels completed his first year as Broncos coach with an 8-8, non-playoff season that began with 6-0 and 8-4 starts. His debut season was sprinkled with his own clashes with Marshall. He said he and his staff are reviewing everything about the season and will make a decision soon on whether to retain Marshall or seek to trade him.

There is not much of a decision to make.

Marshall has to go.

McDaniels decided early into his Broncos start that quarterback Jay Cutler had to go. If he could not work with Cutler, how can he possibly decide that he can make it work with and count on Marshall? I don’t see it. Few in the NFL do.

Marshall has to go.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: NFL Draft, NFL Free Agency, NFL Analysis

INDIANAPOLIS — Big as trucks, quick as cats, strong as a Starbucks double espresso, Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy may well be the first two players picked in this year’s NFL draft. Those spots are usually reserved for quarterbacks and offensive linemen, but Suh and McCoy both play defensive tackle. And the chance that they may be the first two players off the board this April says a lot about what’s going on with that position.

Especially as more NFL teams switch to 3-4 defenses, a premium is being placed on those gargantuan, freakish combinations of speed and power who can play — and dominate — in the middle of the defensive line. As many as four other defensive tackles could conceivably join Suh and McCoy as first-round picks. And of the six NFL players who were designated as franchise players last week, three were defensive tackles. Another, Pittsburgh’s Casey Hampton, would have made it 4-of-6 if he hadn’t agreed to a contract extension just before the franchise deadline.

“You can’t teach a defensive lineman how to be a defensive lineman, and defensive tackles are a rare breed,” UCLA defensive tackle Brian Price said Saturday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “So we’re a hot commodity.”

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: NFL Draft

INDIANAPOLIS — His name didn’t appear among the top-tier group of offensive linemen at the NFL combine. For that matter, it didn’t even appear on Division-I college roster.

But Jared Veldheer, the pride of tiny Hillsdale College, will get a chance to play football at the highest level.

“It’s a surreal thing to think I’m in this position,” Veldheer said earlier this week. “But I’ve put myself in this position.”

If you think the D-II label that’s been slapped on Veldheer raises a flag, understand that’s it’s being countered by the wild athletic skills set he packs in his — get this — 6-foot-8, 312-pound frame that is raising some eyebrows in Indy.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Arizona Cardinals

INDIANAPOLIS — Kurt Warner retired nearly a month ago, leaving Matt Leinart as the heir to the quarterback spot with the Arizona Cardinals.

Presumably.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt was asked point blank Saturday at the NFL Combine whether Leinart, the former Heisman Trophy winner from USC and the franchise’s first-round pick four years ago, officially had been told he was The Guy or whether he had to go earn the starting quarterback job.

“It’s hard to say Matt has to earn it because he’s the only quarterback on our roster,” Whisenhunt said.

How’s that for a passionate endorsement?

About as convincing as the one given by general manager Rod Graves 10 minutes earlier.

“Matt’s the only quarterback we have under contract,” Graves said. “We’re looking for ways to bolster that position.”

Neither men mentioned re-signing Brian St. Pierre (he of the five pass attempts in eight seasons) to compete for the job, so maybe that’s a vote of confidence.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: NFL Draft, NFL Video

INDIANAPOLIS — The 2010 NFL Combine is underway, but not every player is willing to “throw” it all out on the line. Should all of the top QB prospects show off their passing skills? Dan Graziano is in Indy and has an opinion.

Check out his thoughts in the following video:

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Terrell Owens is on the market after the Buffalo Bills announced Saturday they do not plan to offer him a contract.