Here we go...time to start a new season.

Drew Sharp: Detroit Lions must learn from fiscally responsible Seahawks, let Ndamukong Suh walk

http://www.freep.com/article/20140204/C ... g-Suh-walk

I like this Top-Five Player measure. I can't believe that some teams really break the bank for anything other than a QB and even though Suh can be a beast, is that really worth this much? Signing any non-QB rookie to a 5-year $63.5M contract is crazy in my mind. Knowing at that time that the contact could cost them $22.4M against the cap in one year is inexcusable.

Going to be interesting to see what the Hawks do with their FA's.

A fragmented list I found:

defensive lineman Michael Bennett, receiver Golden Tate, right tackle Breno Giacomini, defensive tackle Tony McDaniel, cornerback Walter Thurmond and kicker Steven Hauschka. Giacomini & McDaniel are the most expendable, but I'd rather not see any of them depart.

Players the article considered more expendable include fullback Michael Robinson, offensive lineman Paul McQuistan, end O'Brien Schofield, defensive tackle Clinton McDonald, safety Chris Maragos, backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson and tight end Kellen Davis. I'd agree with any of those as being minor contributors OTHER than Robinson who is under rated.

The article I found alos mentioned Bryant & Harvin are due large bonuses; & while they don't mention Sherman, he's up soon, as is Wilson.

All the young QBs that are going to go early, middle and late in this year's draft are going to make next year very interesting indeed. Last year's draft was a snoozefest.

Here's my thoughts on what the Broncos can do in terms of personnel next season. They will be playing the NFC West next year, so they will have a tough road next year with a substantially harder schedule than this year, provided all the teams remain as good as they are now or better.

DEFENSE

I haven't done a lot of deep research but I feel the priorities should be to fix the pass coverage with some better safeties, better cover linebackers and a solid nickelback. Obviously, they need to re-sign DRC but if Chris Harris isn't ready by the beginning of next season, they made need to find a good CB since Champ has obviously lost a step. (Sorry Champ, you belong in the HOF but every great has to hang 'em up at some point.)

They also need a little help with the pass rush. Getting Von Miller back will help but if a good young pass rusher is available in the draft, I think the Broncos should go for it.

I think other weaknesses will be fixed with players on IR returning next season.

OFFENSE

This offense showed that while their pass-first specialty can beat most NFL teams, it can't beat all of them. Sometimes there will be teams that either scheme too well in the secondary or just have a pure talent advantage in pass rush and coverage like the Seahawks did.

I think Plan B for this offense in these circumstances is to run the football out of two tight-end looks with plenty of play-action mixed in. They lost both times, but there's no denying the Saints did better in their run-first offense than they did the first time around in their pass-first offense. Hell, they might even want to have a fullback on the roster for these situations.

It was one of the greatest offenses of all time and they can probably continue to do what they did last season, but there will come a time next season (since they're playing all the NFC West teams) when they must be much more balanced or even focus on running the ball better.

With this in mind, they might want to draft or hire some good zone blocking linebackers for the run game. Montee Ball is a solid RB, so they'll probably want to draft someone in the same mold. Who knows, maybe CJ Anderson will be ready to go next year as the power back. Or maybe interest in Knowshon Moreno won't be as high as people expect and Denver can retain him at a good price. Who knows.

Other than that, re-signing or finding a replacement for Eric Decker is obviously important... I think the market will determine whether or not that happens.

The Manning/Belichick rivalry is so heated that the two have resorted to golfing with each other.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutd ... --nfl.html

It is funny how the fans gets so much more heated and passionate about these rivalries than the actual players and coaches do.

I'll be interested in where Johnny Football goes and how he does in the NFL.

NEW YORK -- The NFL has decided to shift eight of its Thursday night games to a broadcast network, and announced Wednesday that CBS won the bid to showcase more of television's hottest property.

CBS will air the games during the first eight weeks of the season with its top broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, simulcasting them with the NFL Network. The league's cable network will show six Thursday night games alone later in the season, produced by CBS with Nantz and Simms also in the booth. Of those eight second-half games, six will be on Thursday nights with two as part of a Saturday doubleheader in Week 16. The first Saturday game would be in the afternoon followed by the second in prime time, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.

The NFL said the contract is for one year, and the league has an option to extend it for 2015. Financial terms were not disclosed.

CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and Turner were all interested in the NFL's Thursday night package. Live television events like sports and awards shows are increasingly important for broadcasters as the audience fragments for traditional fare, and football games are the most dependable ratings-grabbers. Sunday's Super Bowl, with 112.2 million viewers, set a record as the most-watched program in U.S. television history.

The NFL started a limited package of Thursday games in 2006, and showed 13 games on the NFL Network this past season. Its goal is to both increase the visibility of the NFL Network through promotion on television's most-watched network, along with putting the Thursday games on firmer footing, said Brian Rolapp, the league's executive vice president for media.

"We want to make Thursday night football as big as possible in the minds of the NFL fan," Rolapp said.

Part of the reason for a short-term deal is the NFL's indecision about whether it sees the Thursday night franchise as best for its cable network in years to come, or whether the rights money and greater exposure offered by a broadcast network is the smarter financial play.

CBS will have no flexibility in what games it broadcasts on Thursdays. The NFL will announce its Thursday schedule before the season begins, Rolapp said.

"NFL Network built Thursday into a night for NFL fans," commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "Our goal is to bring these games to more fans on broadcast television with unprecedented promotion and visibility for Thursday Night Football on CBS."

ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

I'm not going to be a big fan of Thursday Night Football until they make it so the only teams that play are coming off a bye.

When Thursday night games were twice a year (once in Oct and once in Dec) for many years, that was cool.

This is overkill.

The NFL, or should I say Goodell is lying about these games being "A night for NFL fans".

Most fans dislike the games and the ratings were not that good on NFL Network.

The real reason this is happening???

Money! Shocker I know. It's just about money and promoting NFL Network. They will yank the games from people watching on CBS and hope they order NFL Network. And the only reason it's on CBS is because the NFL Network does not get the ratings they want.

Not exactly a shitload of people hitting the bars for Buffalo-Cleveland on Thursday nights Goodell-tell us what this is really about. It's OK-we know it's money we just want to hear you admit it!

Fine with me. I watch the Thursday games anyway and like Phil Simms.

Plus, I hope the Jets sign Eric Decker.

I also think it's bad idea for the players health.

That's my only qualm. A team playing Sunday and having to play four days later seems unhealthy.

Yeah, players on the various radio shows I listen to really don't like the Thursday games. The body doesn't have enough time to recover.

I can't decide if this guy is really ballsy or really dumb...



http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-foo ... ory-parade

Eight weeks of no 'Big Bang Theory' - another reason to give up on the NFL!

Its kinda sad that wearing a different sports team's apparel has to fall into either category. It's just grown men playing ball.

Wearing the jersey isn't a big deal - the point is that he did it during the Seahawks celebration parade. 700,000 Seahawk fans crowding the city and he decides to come down wearing Niners colors.

So yeah, it was either really ballsy or really dumb. If the situation had been reversed, a Seahawk fan would've gotten knifed at the parade.

I realize that, I was just thinking it's sad that people take sports so seriously that people might be at risk because they dare to wear a rival jersey. I have heard that the Niners and Raiders fans are especially nasty.

Good for him.

The flip side of that is what reason would you have to go to that kind of celebration wearing an opposing team's colors (especially one that's as bitter a rivalry as this one) ?

I can only think of one or two reasons, and none of them are particularly admirable.