NFL Off-Season

[ACCBiggz]

Let's keep this an off-season thread, and someone can repost that combine stuff in here later.

News out of Baltimore is Ray Lewis wants traded, and the word on the street here in Ohio is that Cincinnati would like to obtain him. Ray + Marvin = Good news for Bengals.

This is where I came in and put a thought in their heads... Who are the Bengals going to trade for him? Brain Simmons is also in a contract year, but that is clearly not going to happen by himself. I open this for discussion, and perhaps if you heard he may be going to another team.

[Mofoticon]

Ray Lewis wont be traded to an AFC North division rival, he will only go to one if he is cut. The Ravens will not make that mistake of trading him to a rival.

[ACCBiggz]

Ray Lewis wont be traded to an AFC North division rival, he will only go to one if he is cut. The Ravens will not make that mistake of trading him to a rival.

[Cactus Drags]

Not too sure about the whole Lewis deal, but the word on Randle El is that the Bears are interested in him should the Steelers let him become a free agent.

[Jerichoholic23]

None of you have mentioned that fact that there might be a work stoppage. What kind of impact would that have? The only good thing coming out of it is the other major sports would get a boost in ratings.

[Evil Chase K]

1. Lewis is washed-up and won't ever be as good as he was a few years ago.

If Cincinnati wants to trade an important part to their marshmallow soft defense for a washed-up, aging Ray Lewis that's fine by me. The only player on the Ravens I'd trade for right now is Ed Reed. That guy is phenomenal.

2. Antwaan Randle El is an unrestricted free agent, and most likely priced himself right out of Pittsburgh with his TD pass in SB XL. If the Bears wanna overpay for him, that's great. Rumors are that the Pats are interested in him too, but their cap situation makes it unlikely he'd go there. El is from Chicago and may want to go play for his hometown team.

El has gone on record to say that he's going to pray for an answer of where God wants him to play, Pittsburgh, or elsewhere.

Usually whenever a player says that...God tells them to take the money and run.

3. The work stoppage would not be until AFTER next season if they don't get a new CBA in place. They've made some progress towards it lately.

Edited February 14, 2006 by SkinMySenses

[livid]

1. Lewis is washed-up and won't ever be as good as he was a few years ago.

If Cincinnati wants to trade an important part to their marshmallow soft defense for a washed-up, aging Ray Lewis that's fine by me. The only player on the Ravens I'd trade for right now is Ed Reed. That guy is phenomenal.

[Guest Chaos Theory]

Lets talk about the Buccaneers shall we?

Offense

The Buccaneers has a great offense lined up. Chris Simis, will be greater than his father, its just a matter of time. Micahel Clayton didn't have a great season due to injuries because of his blocking for Carnell Williams, Galloway is the fastest receiver int he NFL. When you run the 40 yard dash at 4.2 at his age, your fast. Edell Shepard will, hopefully, be cut. Michael Pitman will get us our first Kick Return for a touchdown, assuming they resign him. Would be nice if we drafted a receiver.

Defense

Tampa needs to draft a linebacker and a cornerback. Brooks won't be around much longer and Ronde Barber is pretty much going to be done here in a few seasons. Would love to see us pick up Miami's Jennings and Ohio States A.J Hawk, that probably won't happen.

[Green Demon]

And Biggz, I don't understand your "aging" term for the Ravens, as a lot of their star players on Defense are young (Reed, Suggs, Cody, Williams) or in their prime (McAllister, Thomas, Weaver, Polley) with key veterans (Boulware, Rolle, Gregg). The offense has a mix of young players with a ton of potential (Taylor, Boller, Clayton, Hymes, Moore) mixed with veterans who can lead the team (Mason, Heap, Ogden, Flynn), so to say they're an aging team would be wrong, because the team isn't THAT old. I think this next year, if Boller can play like he did to end the season, that the Ravens could be one of the stronger teams in the AFC next year.

[gunnar hendershow]

I'm going to focus on the Ravens, since Ray Lewis is making news right now.

We SHOULD trade him. He's no longer Ray Lewis the best Linebacker in the NFL. He's, at best, Zach Thomas (But with more people around him to steal some tackles). The problem is that Ray played such an aggressive and physical style that it was obvious he'd hit a wall at 30. If he can change his style and become a more traditional MLB, he can get 3-4 more years out of his body and still be effective. If not, he'll just be another LB... except costing a couple million more. Plus, teams will go gaga over possibly being able to acquire Ray Lewis and we can definitely get some good young players or draft picks out of a deal.

As for RB. Chester Taylor. CHESTER FUCKING TAYLOR. Let Jamal walk and let some team be like "Ooooh... 2066!!! 295!!!" and pay him a ton. We can use the extra cap room for some OL and DL upgrades.

The other big FA's out there. Well, Seattle needs to secure up Shaun Alexander. They will definitely be back where they were this year if they can keep him around. Randle El? Someone's gonna overpay for him, it just depends who.

[Evil Chase K]

1. Lewis is washed-up and won't ever be as good as he was a few years ago.

If Cincinnati wants to trade an important part to their marshmallow soft defense for a washed-up, aging Ray Lewis that's fine by me. The only player on the Ravens I'd trade for right now is Ed Reed. That guy is phenomenal.

Washed-up? Now, I know you're a Pittsburgh fan so I can see why you would say that, but Ray Lewis isn't washed up. He's aging, yes, but Ray Lewis, himself, isn't washed-up. He still had 38 tackles in a season where he played 7 games; that's not washed-up. Besides, he's only 30, which is starting to get there in terms of age in the NFL, but still by no means, is he a Doug Flutie type in that he's washed-up.

And Biggz, I don't understand your "aging" term for the Ravens, as a lot of their star players on Defense are young (Reed, Suggs, Cody, Williams) or in their prime (McAllister, Thomas, Weaver, Polley) with key veterans (Boulware, Rolle, Gregg). The offense has a mix of young players with a ton of potential (Taylor, Boller, Clayton, Hymes, Moore) mixed with veterans who can lead the team (Mason, Heap, Ogden, Flynn), so to say they're an aging team would be wrong, because the team isn't THAT old. I think this next year, if Boller can play like he did to end the season, that the Ravens could be one of the stronger teams in the AFC next year.

[ACCBiggz]

As of right now, Ray Lewis has not demanded a trade, just has apprently said he wants out. This will probably devolop over the next week or two.

[gunnar hendershow]

To SkinMySenses, it's no lie Ray Lewis gets credited for phantom tackles. But there isn't a single LB in the entire NFL who doesn't get tackles stolen from them or tackles given to them just for being in the area. Total tackles is usually a good indication of how the guy played, but it isn't an exact number.

Ray Lewis isn't always effective in the terms of getting tackles. What the Steelers, and others (Steelers were the first to do this) was let him dictate where they go. Where he is, they go the other way. It tires him out as the game goes on since he will always be in pursuit. What teams did for the early part of his career, and some still do, was try to block him out, and that never really works.

[Evil Chase K]

Ray Lewis isn't always effective in the terms of getting tackles. What the Steelers, and others (Steelers were the first to do this) was let him dictate where they go. Where he is, they go the other way. It tires him out as the game goes on since he will always be in pursuit. What teams did for the early part of his career, and some still do, was try to block him out, and that never really works.

[gunnar hendershow]

Well Jerome could run over just about any defensive player on the field, and yes Kreider is the most underrated fullback in the NFL without a doubt. Seeing this guy layout all our defensive players at least one time a game made me well aware of this. What are his offensive stats, as in does he break good runs and score some TDs? If he doesn't there is the reason he's so unheralded. Which, let me add, is a crime.

[Evil Chase K]

Well Jerome could run over just about any defensive player on the field, and yes Kreider is the most underrated fullback in the NFL without a doubt. Seeing this guy layout all our defensive players at least one time a game made me well aware of this. What are his offensive stats, as in does he break good runs and score some TDs? If he doesn't there is the reason he's so unheralded. Which, let me add, is a crime.

[gunnar hendershow]

Psssh... are you kidding me? The only stat that matters in football is TDs. It's a one man sport after all, there is no team involvement in a TD play. Real football fans all know this to be true.

And enough with my poorly executed sarcasm. I would definitely put Kreider in the top 5 for FBs, if only because I've seen what he does against Baltimore. The problem with putting together a list of best FBs is it's a position which can't be judged on the stat sheet. As a result, I can't really give a good list of who the best FBs are. And not many people can. Let me say that Baltimore's Alan Ricard is a good FB though. The difference in our backfield when he is healthy and when he is almost night and day.

[ACCBiggz]

Daunte Culpepper hit the trading block this morning... reported asking price is a 2nd round pick... and the interested parties...

Oakland, New York Jets, Miami, and Baltimore.

Apprently, Baltimore is looking in to sending Jamal Lewis to Minnesota in their deal, just rumors at this point.

[Chris2K]

Here, I decided to make up some questions for people to answer. Mainly because I don't have the knowledge to answer them myself.

1. Where will Shaun Alexander play next season?

2. Will the Texans draft Reggie Bush?

3. Where will Vince Young and Matt Leinart end up?

4. Where will Edgerrin James play next season?

5. And are the Colts right to keep Reggie Wayne and lose James?

6. Will Terrell Owens find a new franchise?

7. Where will Daunte Culpepper play next season?

Edited February 16, 2006 by Chris2K

[Stone Cold]

Here, I decided to make up some questions for people to answer. Mainly because I don't have the knowledge to answer them myself.

1. Where will Shaun Alexander play next season?

2. Will the Texans draft Reggie Bush?

3. Where will Vince Young and Matt Leinart end up?

4. Where will Edgerrin James play next season?

5. And are the Colts right to keep Reggie Wayne and lose James?

6. Will Terrell Owens find a new franchise?

7. Where will Daunte Culpepper play next season?