NFL Owners, Players Sort It Out

NFL football is back. Technically, of course, NFL football never left, as this all happened from March to July, but even that thought didn’t piss on the parades of gridiron fans today as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Players Association boss DeMaurice Smith stood in front of reporters and announced that both sides agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement for the next ten years.

You could tell it was a good enough agreement from the defeated scowl on Jerry Richardson’s face at the press conference. The Carolina Panthers’ owner, who spent the entire lockout becoming the prime symbol of NFL owners’ greed and hate, stood behind Goodell and Smith today looking desperate for some new earth to scorch. Sorry, Jerry. You’ll have to pay Cam Newton after all.

So what’s next? Draft picks can begin signing with teams on Tuesday, players with bad contracts can begin getting cut on Thursday, and on Friday, teams can start shelling out ridiculous sums of money for veteran free agents — and since teams are required to be within the salary cap range (roughly $119.2M to $120.4M) by August 4, we can expect a full week of glorious, glorious chaos. The team you watched religiously last year probably won’t look much like the one you’ll watch this year.

But at least you’ll get games to watch. We get a 2011 season after all. More big plays! More big hits! More big debilitating brain bruises! Everything we shell out our hard earned cash to watch! And we get it all for the next ten years! Huzzah!

One day, Aaron Sorkin will write a movie script about this. Roger Goodell and De Smith with be the smooth-talking heroes who became best buds, and everyone else — especially the lawyers, who were reportedly even bigger villains than Richardson in all this – will be such self-aggrandizing assholes that they’ll make the Winklevoss twins look like the Olsen twins. I wonder who they’ll get to play Jerry Jones…

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NFL Owners’ Con Game Hits a Snag

You’ve probably heard by now about Judge David Doty’s ruling that the NFL negotiated its TV contracts in bad faith, in violation of the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association. The ruling basically takes away all the leverage the owners had in locking out players and canceling the 2011 NFL season.

For this, Judge Doty was named Kissing Suzy Kolber’s Meast of the Week. So now the Minneapolis-based judge has two things in common with Prince. I believe the new appropriate term for this is WINNING.

I would share my thoughts on this ruling, except that my pal Bomani Jones already vocalized those exact same thoughts this morning. So just hit that play button below and listen, and remember — I told you about this game the owners were playing a year ago.

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Owners will know about Rodgers on Saturday

Published: December 16th, 2010 | Tags: Aaron Rodgers, David Garrard, Jason Campbell, Jon Kitna, Josh Freeman, Kerry Collins

If you survived the loss of Aaron Rodgers for most of last week’s game – and his 2.34-point performance – you should at least know his status well before his Week 15 contest in New England.

According to the Packers official Twitter page, the decision on Rodgers’ status will be made on Saturday. That’s good news, as the game is slated for Sunday night.

If Rodgers is expected to start, obviously you put him into your lineup and don’t think twice about it. But if it’s announced that he’ll be inactive, you’ll have to resort of other options.

Luckily, there are some good ones still on the waiver wire in most NFL.com leagues.

Based on the matchups, Josh Freeman (41.5 percent), David Garrard (68.5 percent), Jon Kitna (86.3 percent), Kerry Collins (94.5 percent) and Jason Campbell (93.9 percent) are all very attractive choices.

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Fantasy owners could get Nicks, Smith back

Published: December 9th, 2010 | Tags: Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, Steve Smith

Tom Rock of Newsday wrote on his Twitter page that Hakeem Nicks (leg) and Steve Smith (pectoral) both practiced Thursday and are “looking good for Sunday.”

That would be great news for fantasy owners, as the postseason starts in most traditional leagues.

The Vikings have allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to wide receivers, so Nicks and Smith would instantly become starters if neither has playing-time limitations in the contest. In a best-case scenario where both players starts, Eli Manning would also be a much more attractive option.

Of course, the full return of Nicks and Smith would limit the appeal of Mario Manningham.

Be sure to check NFL.com’s inactives report on Sunday morning for definitive news on the Giants wide receivers and all the injured players for Week 14.

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Orton owners should worry about Tebow

Published: November 23rd, 2010 | Tags: Denver Broncos, Jon Kitna, Josh Freeman, Josh McDaniels, Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow was a mild irritant for fantasy owners when he started sneaking a touchdown — or four — away from the other Broncos you actually had on your team. But Tebow could develop into a full-blown fantasy rash if the Broncos continue to falter down the stretch.

Many of you Kyle Orton owners will shudder to even think about this topic. But at some point — when the season is lost in Denver — it seems inevitable that Tebow will get some starts. But just how soon will that happen?

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels would not take the bait from reporters Tuesday when asked this very question, according to  the Denver Post.

“I don’t know,” McDaniels said. ”Not willing to go there. That’s not the case right now, so we’ll think about that when that happens.”

McDaniels is right, mathematically. But a huge home loss to the Raiders and the drubbing in San Diego Monday night should be a final alarm for fantasy enthusiasts who own Orton, who ranks fourth among quarterbacks on NFL.com.

Do not hit the snooze button to get some extra sleep on this one. Grab another quarterback for the stretch drive, stat.

Fantasy editor Michael Fabiano already did the heavy lifting, but there are a few names to consider, starting with Buccaneers QB Josh Freeman and Cowboys QB Jon Kitna. Freeman has one of the best schedules down the stretch. This is also true of the Broncos, which would be awesome if Orton is still starting.

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