The 2009 NFL Offseason

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Coaching News

 

The Colts' next defensive coordinator will reportedly be former Bucs assistant head coach/defensive line Larry Coyer. Coyer's last stint as a coordinator was from 2003-06 in Denver, where his defenses ranked 7th, 4th, 2nd, and 12th against the run.

 

The Jaguars are reportedly "very close" to hiring Mel Tucker (Cleveland 2008) as their next defensive coordinator.

 

Jets named Mike Pettine their defensive coordinator. Pettine coached the Ravens' outside linebackers for four years.

 

Rams hired former Panthers LBs coach Ken Flajole as defensive coordinator.

[Mike wanna be 0]

Panthers D-coord Mike Trgovac just walked out on Carolina. He wasn't given a better job elsewhere, he wasn't offered any job elsewhere, he just...didn't re-sign, I guess.

 

This looks more like a "we need Peppers more than we need your 30-ppg-against-down-the-stretch defensive coordinating" move, as the door is now open for a 3-4 scheme. Even though I hate the 3-4 and everything it stands for. Last year with Jenkins in the middle was the time to try implementing it, not now.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Hey the Packers are going to be running a 3-4 soon... And even if Peppers is a year away from being on the wrong side of 30, he's probably worth giving up the compensation for the franchise tag.

[MFer 0]

Lions hire Scott Linehan as offensive coordinator. Looks like they're putting together a good staff down in Detroit, they just need to make sure they get some good talent in free agency and the draft.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

and in Kansas City, Herman Edwards has been fired. I'm sure everyone saw this coming... now what happens to QB Tyler Thigpen? A lot of questions about whether he'll even be the starter.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

Now that Herm's gone, I think the Chiefs will take Mark Sanchez with their pick.

[MFer 0]

Also, the Chiefs are reportedly close to hiring Mike Shanahan as head coach. That would be huge for them.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Herm Edwards would be a good defensive coordinator somewhere.

[2GOLD 0]

The Chiefs, man he didn't get that ship going in the right direction at all. He wasted a pick on Brodie Croyle (still a dumb move considering the guy sucked as a quarterback against COLLEGE players), tried to count on Trent Green and Damon Huard (seriously Herm? Seriously?) and never found more than one receiver worth a damn to give his below average quarterbacks someone to throw too.

 

It didn't help that his defense evaporated late in a lot of games and the Chiefs one playoff game against the Colts the offensive line was beyond embarrassed. Herm did an overall poor job with the Chiefs franchise and really got lucky he got this last season.

 

Shame for Tyler Thigpen though, I think he will be a much much better quarterback next year. He was essentially a rookie out there and he made a lot of rookie mistakes. But I wouldn't go with Sanchez, I'd rather see them take another chance with Thigpen and look for a quarterback next season.

[Mike wanna be 0]

I don't think Sanchez is a #3 pick, I don't see anybody else at #3 worth trading up for, and yet I don't see him falling to the #3 pick of round 2 for KC to get him. KC has enough pressing needs and will have a new coach, they can wait a year on QB in order to fill other gaps.

 

I'll go with Random Googled Mock Draft and say Sanchez goes #10 to San Fransisco.

[Fökai 0]

The Chiefs should take a note from the Cards, grab Crabtree and start building around him and Dwayne Bowe now. Andre Smith would be a great pick if there weren't league concerns about his commitment to staying in shape. The ideal pick would be an offensive linemen like Smith or Eugene Monroe, but they need skill positions now who can lure free agents to a rebuilding project. Give Thigpen another year with Bowe and Crabtree, and see if he makes any strides with those two (although any quarterback worth a shit will look like a star with those receivers).

 

EDIT: I bet that's the pick. I'll check back in three months.

[Gert T 0]

Crabtree at #3 is the HR pick, Curry at #3 is the safe pick.

 

I like Sanchez better than Stafford, but it absolutely kills me to see mock drafts with both of them going in the Top 3. It makes me wonder if the people who do the mocks watch game film.

 

 

[HarleyQuinn 0]

I'd rather see the Chiefs go after some offensive line help in the 1st round as the WR class is fairly deep and they can get a solid WR in the 2nd round.

 

Personally, I'd rather the Chiefs target needs in the first 2 rounds and go for a guy like Brian Robiskie, Jarrett Dillard, or Juaquin Iglesias if they fall to the 3rd round or move up to the late 2nd to get one of them.

 

 

[Smartly Pretty 0]

If Sanchez slips to #17, I don't know how the Jets could pass on him, but at the same time, a guy like Josh Freeman, who realistically shouldn't go any time in the first or second round, shouldn't really be on their radar.

 

I'd like to see the Jets take James Lauranitis, or however you spell that. Or Vontae Davis.

[tonyjaymzretro 0]

Took me a while, but I'm warming up to the idea of a Chiefs offense centered around Thigpen/Bowe/Crabtree...would help make up for the lack of run game(which is attributed to their o-line and shitty rbs...yes, I'm calling LJ shitty)...the best part is tehy're all young, give them a season to gel, they could be a AFC West contender in no time.

 

And Herm edwards is one of those guys, he makes a great coordinator, but not a great head coach, he'll find himself a job fairly quickly

[Kinetic 0]

I can't imagine that the Chiefs would take Crabtree in that spot. They have an awful lot of weak areas on that team, and taking the Matt Millen approach to the draft isn't going to help improve those areas. I don't think Arizona's success with two 1st round WRs is going to inspire a lot of copycats, especially considering that they could end up having to let Boldin go before too long.

 

Does anybody really think that Sanchez is going to be all that good as a pro? Kansas City already has a few young QBs to compete for that spot, and since Sanchez is far from a sure thing I'd suggest that it would be a mistake to take him so early. Go for either an offensive lineman or a running back. I would imagine that either Knowshown Moreno or Beanie Wells are going to shoot up draft boards after the combine, so one of those guys could end up being the pick.

 

Edit: In looking at a couple of different mock drafts, there seems to be no real consensus on Sanchez right now. Some drafts have him going somewhere in the middle of rd 1, some have him higher up, some have him out of the first round all together. I really think he'd be a reach in the first round, but the dearth of QB options this year dictates that some needy team will draft him early. Possibly the 49ers or the Jets.

[MFer 0]

Aaron Curry would probably be the safest pick for the Chiefs. They could look at Brian Orakpo, because they have ZERO pass rush, but he might be a little bit of a reach at #3. I'm wary of the Sanchez hype, the guy was viewed as a late-1st, early-2nd type of player, but he seems to have shot up the boards after 1. He had a huge Rose Bowl against a good but not great Penn St. D, and 2. Bradford decided to stay in school.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I dunno about the Chiefs taking an offensive tackle at #3. They grabbed Branden Albert last year and seem to have him locked in at LT, and I don't think you need to spend #3 money on a right tackle. Albert was a fantastic left guard in college, so you could take either of the Smiths or Monroe and move him there, but that's a lot of money to have invested in a second-year guard.

 

The pick at 3 has gotta be someone on defense, I think. The Chiefs had only ten sacks last year, and ranked 28th and 30th in pass/rush defense, respectively. Curry's a pretty good choice, though I think they really need a monster DE above anything right now. Not sure there's anyone who really rates #3 this year in that category, but I'm sure someone will work up there in the combine.

[2GOLD 0]

 

They could always trade out of the spot, possibly acquiring a second round pick for someone who wants to move up and snag Crabtree or one of the linemen. They can still get who they want and need a few spots lower and if they can find a buyer, they should sell. They have too many needs to fill and if they feel confident with Bowe then attack the FA market for another wide receiver. There is this guy T.J available.

 

If they can't, I would say go defense as well. There were a LOT of games where they put up points but just failed to hold the leads. If they can stop that, I think they are in much better shape than anyone figures.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I'm thinking Crabtree and the Seahawks were made for each other. Even during Seattle's run to the Super Bowl, Hasselbeck still pretty much didn't have anyone to throw to.

 

I'm also going to guess that there's a strong possibility Green Bay goes for Laureniitis or Orakpo, if he's available. One of the two, especially now that there's a 3-4 in place. I also think that the Chiefs should go for offensive line help- they need far more help there than anywhere else on the offense. Wide receiver may be a thin crop this year in free agency, but there's bound to be a couple cheap pick-ups there that, if Thigpen has time to throw and LJ room to run, could be a decent offense sooner rather than later.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Some signing news and coaching news... Only listed the notable names.

 

Futures/Reserved Contracts (New York Jets): RB Noah Herron (Noteworthy with Green Bay at times), RB Marcus Mason (Washing Redskins pre-season star), and DL Kareem Brown.

Futures/Reserved Contracts (San Francisco): WR/KR Michael Spurlock, most notable for playing at Mississippi after Eli Manning.

 

Pete Mangurian, the Patriot's tight ends coach since 2005, will not be back with the team next season according to a league source.

 

The Broncos have hired Clancy Barone as the team's tight ends coach. He was with San Diego the past 2 seasons.

[snuffbox 0]

I think it was Noah Herron that beat a would-be burglar with a piece of his bed.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Jeff Fisher wants Kerry Collins back as his starting QB.

 

Fish is never going to win that Super Bowl ring

[Cuban Linx 0]

I guess Vince Young must still really suck then.

 

They got one miraculously non-shit season out of Collins, i don't like the odds of getting another one. Sadly there's not much in the way of better options available though.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

I guess Vince Young must still really suck then.

 

They got one miraculously non-shit season out of Collins, i don't like the odds of getting another one. Sadly there's not much in the way of better options available though.

 

Well, keep in mind that Vince will be 26 next year and we've seen QBs start even later with decent success. He completed 62.3% of his passes in 2007 and I think he was thrown to the wolves, contrary to how Fisher likes to bring his QBs along. Even with the mental question marks, I believe VY sitting behind a proven vet in Collins will only help him in the future. McNair started 6 games in his first 2 years in the NFL and VY could've used time to sit (especially as he wasn't a proven passer as it was coming out of college and the pro game is so much faster).

 

I also think Fisher kind of realizes that this may be one of those "win now" seasons next year and he'll already be losing guys like Albert Haynesworth to FA. The past 4 seasons: 4-12, 8-8, 10-6, and 13-3 and I don't see the Titans winning much more than 10-11 games next year and winning the AFC South again over the Colts.

 

Just noticed: Fisher's getting into his 50's now and most of his peers have coached around 15-16 seasons in their careers. See Cowher (15), Vermeil (15), and Dungy (13 years and retired at 53). Even Belichick is getting up there at 14 years as head coach and 57 years of age next season.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Packers hire Kevin Greene to be Linebackers Coach.

 

Love the defensive staff they're putting together. I was wary of how long it took McCarthy to get a defensive coordinator, but so far so good right now.

 

Greene most recently worked with Pittsburgh's linebackers this past offseason, and you can obviously see the results there. Hopefully Hawk, Barnett, and now Kampman will pick up a thing or two.

Oh, and from this article:

"I'm humbled," said Greene, whose long, blond hair and frenzied style of play were as much his trademark as his 160 sacks during a 15-year career. "I'm tickled to death. It's an awesome day for me. The opportunity to be a coach for the Green Bay Packers . . . good googly."

[HarleyQuinn 0]

ESPN Scroll just said that New England hired GM Floyd Reese (Hi, ESPN!) as a senior football adviser. I'm surprised another team didn't hire Reese earlier.

[MFer 0]

Most Lions' fans were practically begging for Reese to be hired (either as GM or in some other position). Guess he was good enough for New England, but not Detroit.

[Grenouille 0]

From the Philly Daily News

Monday is the deadline for NFL employees at the league office in New York, the NFL Network in Los Angeles and NFL Films in Mount Laurel, N.J., to accept the buyout package the league offered last month.

The league is cutting a total of 150 jobs at those three operations. According to sources, they aren't going to come anywhere close to reaching that figure in buyouts. Which means there will be layoffs. The league, which is using the struggling economy as an excuse for the buyouts and layoffs, even though it is making lots and lots and lots of money, already laid off almost 10 percent of NFL Films' work force last March. The league's severance package for layoff victims is an embarrassment. They are offering just 1 week of salary for every year of NFL service, plus 50 percent of the employees' season performance bonus, which is a minimal number.

 

A good number of the job cuts are expected to come at Films. The league, which clearly is trying to phase out Films, even had the audacity to include Films president Steve Sabol on the list of employees who are eligible for the buyout. Sabol and his father Ed founded Films 45 years ago. The company has been instrumental in making the NFL the immensely popular - and profitable - product it is today. Steve has been more important to this league than Paul Tagliabue ever was and Roger Goodell ever will be.

 

I don't know why the NFL would want to phase out Sabol and Films itself. Out of all the four major sports the NFL has the best video production crew. The NFL Films crew has done an exemplary job over the years and it would be a sad day to see it diminished somehow.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Some contract signings...

 

San Diego Chargers signed CB DeJuan Tribble, their 6th round draft pick last year out of Boston College.

Buffalo Bills signed WR P.K. Sam, a special teams player who's bounced around the league since being drafted by New England in 2004.

Baltimore Ravens signed WR Justin Harper, their 7th round pick last year from Virginia Tech, WR Ernie Wheelwright, a UDFA from Minnesota, and RB Matt Lawrence, a UDFA from Boston College.

 

Coaching News

- Chargers named former Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski assistant head coach/tight ends.

- Carolina Panthers hired Ron Meeks as defensive coordinator. He was with Indianapolis.