Free agency, draft, preseason...

[dr.dule]

Samo sto za tu igru sa trcanjem treba bolji od Ben Jarvis Green Ellisa (mogao je jos nesto da ubaci u ime, cisto iz fore )....

treba jedan dobar fulbek kao sto je bio Pas ili Evans da bi imali dobru igru trcanjem , plus OL koja se formira za takav sistem. Firma putuje . po prognozi u KC.

[Ljuba90]

treba jedan dobar fulbek kao sto je bio Pas ili Evans da bi imali dobru igru trcanjem , plus OL koja se formira za takav sistem. Firma putuje . po prognozi u KC.

Kad si vec kod KC-a. Kakvo je stanje sa Charles-om?

[Monta Ellis #11]

Trabao bi da bude spreman za pocetak sezone.......

Both Jamaal Charles (knee surgery) and Tony Moeaki (knee surgery) are expected to participate in Chiefs' offseason workouts.
It's unclear if Charles and Moeaki will be official participants in Chiefs OTAs, but they will resume football activities long before the start of training camp. Both will be a year removed from tearing their ACLs in September, and neither is believed to be in danger of not being ready for Week 1.

[dr.dule]

posle ACL povrede tesko da se moze ocekivati bar u prvoj sezoni posle nje dobra igra. posebno je problem kod trkaca jer je promena pravca najace oruzije a tu su ligamenti kolena dosta optereceni. dosta sam skeptican u pogledu povratka Charlesa a i AP je u istoj situaciji.

[Monta Ellis #11]

Vikings' Adrian Peterson ready to run 2 months after tearing ACL

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson says he plans to start running Feb. 28 - a little more than two months after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament on Dec. 24 against Washington.

Peterson today told KFAN-FM 100.3 that he's "extremely happy" with a rehab schedule that has the All-Pro running back splitting time between Houston, his offseason home, and Minnesota with Vikings trainers.

"I'm definitely making improvements," Peterson told KFAN. "I'm starting to get my muscle tone and strength back."

Peterson is eyeing a return in time for the 2012 season opener, but he will have to be patient. Rehab from a torn ACL can take at least eight months, and players often aren't the same until their second season after ACL surgery.

Peterson, of course, could defy the normal standards of recovery.


http://www.twincities.com/vikings/ci_19987723

[Monta Ellis #11]

Jim Irsay on Peyton: 'We've talked a lot'

Jim Irsay says his relationship with Peyton Manning doesn't boil down to the mundane, give-me-an-update-on-how-you-feel communication that could play a role in determining whether the veteran stays with the Indianapolis Colts.

Instead, as Irsay has remained in vigilant contact with Manning, the matters at hand -- beyond the quarterback's pending status -- would draw the ear of nearly every sports fan.

"We've talked a lot this month, probably more than most Februarys, and it's probably not what most people think we talk about," the Colts' owner said, speaking to reporters Thursday at a business event held in his honor, according to WRTV.com, the website of the Indianapolis ABC affiliate. "Very recently, we got into a debate about will Tiger Woods win more majors than Jack Nicklaus or not."

Two days after saying he is leaving the door open for Manning to stay and that he planned to meet with him within the next week, Irsay said it wasn't an easy decision.

But Irsay didn't discuss an SI.com report that Manning's array of neck procedures included a fourth, previously unreported surgery.

"Peyton and I have talked and said that certainly by that date or sooner, we'd like to just come to something that makes sense for both of us," Irsay said before being inducted into the Central Indiana Business Hall of Fame. "It's a difficult thing, because sometimes circumstances are thrown at you. You take your hands out of the deck that you're dealt and you deal with them."

Irsay remained coy on the controversy surrounding a March 8 deadline, by which time the Colts must decide whether to pay Manning a $28 million roster bonus or lose him to free agency.

"We both know everyone has great interest in it, and we'll just keep talking," Irsay said. "I think we both understand each other's issues."

Irsay, calling his friendship with Manning a "lifelong relationship," joked about the back-and-forth comments he and Manning have shared recently with the media.

"If I call him a politician, he asks for one stroke back on the golf course," Irsay said. "And I said, no, he's giving me one more because I thought he was acting like a jerk before.

"We have that type of relationship. We're both very competitive, but I have a lot of close friends and they've said a lot worse things to me, and I've said a lot worse things to them than him, and I have."

Irsay has said that if Manning wants to stay, they could find a way to make it work financially.

"Him and I will always continue to be great friends, and I hope it's with him still being in a Colts uniform," Irsay said. "But we'll see as we go forward the next few weeks."


http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/75...peyton-manning

[Monta Ellis #11]

Brandon Lloyd’s agent puts Pats on call

Tom Condon would like to remind the Patriots [team stats] of something his critics in Foxboro have begun to deny about him in whispered voices. Tom Condon is a businessman.

If the Patriots want to do business, in this case in pursuit of soon-to-become free agent wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, that’s all that’s necessary. No need for rapprochement, a political term that springs from the French word rapprocher, meaning to “bring together.” No need for a lovefest and no need trying to undercut him through backdoor whispering campaigns designed to convince his client of the need to fire his agent for a deal to get done in Foxboro.

If the Patriots want to get into the Brandon Lloyd business all they have to do is call.

“Both sides know how this works,” Condon said yesterday from St. Louis. “If they have an interest they call up and tell you when free agency starts or they meet you at the combine or whenever. We both know what Brandon is. He’s a smart, explosive receiver. He’s a player who is going to get offers.”

If one comes from New England, Condon will gladly entertain it. He is well aware his 31-year-old client has a deep connection with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels (who turned him from an under-used journeyman into the NFL’s most productive receiver in less than two seasons together), a connection he made clear he’d like to continue.

“I can’t even lie about that,” Lloyd told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in late December. “I’m tied to McDaniels. He uses me differently than other offensive coordinators used me in my entire career. He uses me as an every-play receiver. The short game, mid-range game, gimmick passes, deep balls.

“I do everything in this offense as opposed to other coordinators who would just run me off as the deep guy; run me off into double coverage and then say I’m not open. So I really like how Josh uses me within the offense. . . . I want to be used in ways where I feel comfortable and I can be successful and Josh knows how to do that.”

The Patriots are aware of Lloyd’s sentiments, his talent and their need for a receiver who can make plays outside the numbers. So is Condon. Where the two sides go from there is, Condon insisted, up to the Patriots because he’s a businessman and for the moment so is Lloyd.

“As I told him last night,” Condon said, “if he wants to go to the team that pays him the most money, wonderful. If he wants to go to a team that pays him less but where he feels there’s better opportunity for success, wonderful. He’ll make that decision.”

Condon famously once said of his testy relationship with Patriots management: “We pretend there are 31 franchises in the NFL now and they pretend we don’t exist, even though we represent 140 (now over 160) of the best players in the NFL. That’s fine.”

Yet even though he has not directly done business with the Patriots since a contentious rookie contract negotiation involving Ben Watson [stats] seven years ago, Condon pointed out his agency — CAA Sports — represents several Patriots, so any idea Condon would be an impediment to a fair deal is silly.

“I’d prefer not to rehash things from seven years ago,” Condon said. “I may never like them and they may never like me, but I appreciate that they’re smart guys who usually get what they want. I usually get what I want, too, and what I want is what my client wants.”

In Lloyd’s case that seems a combination of a fair contract and a return to the side of McDaniels, who two seasons ago turned him into the NFL’s most productive wideout. Lloyd was on his fourth team when he arrived in Denver in 2009, a serviceable receiver who believed he’d been misused. McDaniels confirmed that, transforming him into the league’s leading receiver in 2010 (1,448 yards on 77 receptions, an average of 18.8 yards a catch). McDaniels was fired at the end of that year and Lloyd languished in Denver, where he earned $1.395 million but again felt misused until being traded to St. Louis last year.

Back at the side of McDaniels, who was coordinating the Rams offense, Lloyd had 51 receptions for 683 yards and five scores over the final 11 games. Despite the Rams’ offensive struggles, he was again at his best and so a successful marriage continued.

Might it now take a turn in Foxboro? That’s up to the Patriots, their competitors and Lloyd. All Condon will do is his job, which is to negotiate the best deal and let his client decide. What he won’t do is agree to a fire sale.

“He’d like to be with Josh,” Condon said. “He’d also like to get paid. I think he’ll be a player teams will be interested in.”

If the Patriots are really one of them, all they need to do is call.


http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/c...co#articleFull

[Monta Ellis #11]

Neke zanimljive vesti,barem se meni tako cine.......

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/...litz-7019.html

[Monta Ellis #11]

Ray Rice wants Adrian Peterson money

Ravens running back Ray Rice is set to become an unrestricted free agent next month, and given that there’s been no progress on talks for a long-term deal, Baltimore will surely use the franchise tag to keep Rice in place.

That may lead to months of negotiations between Rice and the Ravens, and Peter King writes at SI.com this morning that Rice wants an Adrian Peterson-like contract. Peterson signed a seven-year, $100 million contract in September, with $36 million guaranteed and $40 million in the first three years.

Is Rice worth that much? It’s easy to see why he and his agent think he is. Rice is one of the best running backs in the NFL and probably has a better chance than Peterson of staying near the top of the league for several years to come, given that Rice is almost two years younger than Peterson and has probably taken less wear and tear on his body than Peterson had when he signed his deal. (It goes without saying that Rice has taken less wear and tear on his body now, after Peterson suffered a torn ACL.)

However, it’s also easy to see why the Ravens would be extremely reluctant to give Rice that kind of money. Running backs have proven to be fungible, prone to injury and susceptible to sudden declines in the quality of their play, and NFL teams that give lucrative long-term deals to running backs often live to regret it. Would the Titans still give Chris Johnson a huge contract knowing that he would have career lows in yards, yards per carry and touchdowns last year? Would the Panthers still give DeAngelo Williams a huge contract knowing that he would average 52 yards a game last year? Would the Vikings still give Peterson that contract knowing he was going to tear his ACL less than four months later?

So while the Ravens are reportedly ready to start talking to Rice’s agent at the Scouting Combine, starting to talk and working out a deal are very different things. What the Ravens would rather do is have Rice play for the one-year franchise tender of $7.7 million.

The wild card in all this is that there might be a team out there willing to sign Rice to a long-term deal and give up the two first-round draft picks they would have to surrender to the Ravens if Baltimore doesn’t match the offer. Rice just turned 25 and hasn’t had any significant injuries, and if some team out there is in awe of the idea of getting five seasons of Rice’s services before his 30th birthday, maybe someone other than the Ravens will offer him Adrian Peterson money.


http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...money/related/

[Monta Ellis #11]

Osi Umenyiora won’t be surprised if the Giants trade him

Osi Umenyiora says Super Bowl XLVI may have been his last game in a Giants uniform, and he’s OK with that.

Umenyiora, who was extremely unhappy with his contract last year but managed to put that aside to have another solid season with the Giants, said on ESPN’s Mike and Mike in the Morning today that he wouldn’t be surprised if he and the Giants go their separate ways this offseason.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see,” Umenyiora said. “I can see it going either way. I can see where they would keep me, I can see where they would trade me, because it makes sense both ways. So hopefully things will work out in my interest. I know the team is going to do what’s best for them. They’ve always made the right decisions for that organization. Whether that’s keeping me or trading me, I’d love to stay, but at the end of the day I understand it’s a business and hopefully things will work out.”

Last year Umenyiora briefly held out of training camp and was reportedly so angry that the Giants wouldn’t re-do his contract that he said he’d never talk to G.M. Jerry Reese again. But with time to reflect, Umenyiora has a more respectful view of Reese and Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch.

“Me and Jerry Reese, me and the owners, Mr. Mara and Mr. Tisch, we’re all cool,” Umenyiora said. “Even when all that stuff was going on, it wasn’t really as contentious as people would have thought. We just sat down and had a lot of conversations. We went back and forth as to what was going on. They understand it’s a business just like I understand it’s a business. If anything happens, in the event that I am traded or released, it’s not going to be bad. They would probably be doing it for my own good, in actuality, so I’ll be happy with anything that happens.”

Umenyiora has one year remaining on his current contract, with a very affordable salary of $3.975 million, so releasing him would make no sense at all for the Giants. Trading him might make sense if the right offer comes, but the most likely option is that the Giants keep him right where he is, as one of their starting defensive ends.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...e-him/related/

[Monta Ellis #11]

Jos jedan mock draft 2012

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/mock

[.....]

Jest da se ja slabo razumem ali mi nije jasno sto je Blackmon skoro na svakom mock draftu u prvih pet,meni se cini kao da nije neki extra igrac.

[Nebojsa]

Blackmon je zivotinja, buduci Pro Bowler, kada pored sebe ima normalnog QBa poput Brandona na OSU (a ne moze losije od toga da prodje u NFL) moze da rasturi bilo koju ekipu. Najbolji WR u ovoj klasi.

[Monta Ellis #11]

Videcemo gde ce da zavrsi ja bi voleo da ga uzme STL ali izgleda oni hoce da trejduju 2. pika.......

[Nebojsa]

St Louis ga nece uzeti jer imaju najgoru ofanzivnu liniju u NFL u skorije vreme, a pritom imaju staklenog QBa kojeg su platili Boga oca. Kallil ce za njih biti zlata vredan. Ne verujem da su ludi da tradeuju tog picka, sem isto za nekog ofanzivnog linijasa/centra, samo iskusnijeg.