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Welker has got to be the most overrated WR in all of football. I know he has caught like a zillion passes since coming to the Patriots. However, its because of the system in which he plays almost exclusively in the slot. Think about it, I think he had 111 catches last year for maybe 1100 yards receiving. That's barely 10 yards per catch. That isn't even close to being an elite receiver. If Randy Moss gets hurt and team get to focus on Welker he will be nonexitent. If the Patriots give him a blockbuster deal, then they are crazy. He islike Alvin Harper was with the Cowboys in the 90s and Peerless Price with the Bills the early part of the 21st century, a player that is productive as long as there is a superstar on the other side of him getting double and triple teamed. I like the guy because he plays hard, but no way in the world does he deserve to make more than 2 or 3 million per year. Seattle just gave TJ from the Bengals all that money and he is a glorified possession receiver at this point in his career just like Welker.

Would love to see my Browns pick him up after the Cowboys release him because we have no passrush and he has experience playing in a 3-4. We could get him for relatively cheap since he is 33.

Personally, I see no problem with the Browns giving Cribbs a new deal. The guy is easily the 2nd most popular player on the team behind Brady Quinn and 2nd productive player on the team behind Shaun Rodgers. I think the problem is that his agent wants a contract like the Bears gave Devin Hester last year that was like a 4 year deal worth like $8 million a year. Well, there is no way the Browns do that when they reworked his deal 2 years ago to give him a raise. However, I think there is middle ground in the negotiations for a new 5 year deal worth $15-$20 million with maybe a $4-6 million signing bonus. That is a contract worthy of the best special teams player in the league (he is unquestionably that when you consider that he also plays on the special coverage units in addition to returning punts and kicks) who will also play some snaps in a wildcat scheme and Mangini was even talking about having him play at safety as a starter.

This contract situation is just bad for morale and the Browns need to resolve it. Cribbs has played hard for the team, works well in the community and been an all around good guy. He reminds me a lot of the Browns players in the 80s like Webster Slaughter, Clay Matthews, Reggie Langhorn because those guys were assets to the community not just on the field. His agent will balk at the new deal i proposed and try to get more money using the Hester contract as bait, but ultimately I think Cribbs would sign it because it would be a significant upgrade over his current deal. Also, if the Browns offer the new deal they will win the court of public opinion with die hard Browns fans like myself because right now they are loosing it.

Personally, AI has been one of the funnest players to watch over the last 13 years. He is probably 5'11 160 lbs soaking wet yet played the game as hard as it could be played. He competed every single night, took anyone to the hole, and constantly got back up after receiving punishment from big men. In other words, Tony Parker couldn't carry AI's jockstrap when AI was in his prime. Unfortunately, he can no longer take over games the way he once used to yet his ego still makes him believe that he can. He would be a phenomenal 6th man if he bought into the concept. In order for it to work, it would have to be a championship caliber team with at least 1 superstar on it that AI would defer and listen to. There are only 3 teams that fit that description: Cleveland (they have Lebron), Lakers (they have Kobe and Phil), and Boston (they have KG). Cavs wouldn't sign him because AI has never been a defensive stopper and he certainly hasn't gotten better with age. Lakers wouldn't take him because they already have Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown. However, I think he would fit in great with a team like the Lakers. When Kobe goes out of the game AI could lead the 2nd unit, which would be incredible. Boston may be willing to do it since they did take a chance on Stephon Marbury and I think a healthy AI is better than Marbury.

I'm wit What Da Bloodclot. no reports have said that Culpepper turned down the Chiefs, yet everyone wants to bash him. However, the Chiefs are horrible and no quality player wants to play for them at this point. Gonzalez is Mr. KC and he wants out. I believe it was a conspiracy to not give Culpepper a job because there are too many teams with scrub backup QBs. Culpepper is better than every qb on the Chiefs roster. He is better than all of the Atlanta backups sespecially since I don't know who any of them are. He is better than Kerry Collins and Matt Cassell who are both starting due to injuries. He is better than the the current healthy Detroit RBs. Give the man a break!

TO is selfish and says some stupid things way too often, but I still think he is 1 of the top 5 receivers in the league. However, he is crazy if he thinks Romo is better than McNab. McNab has played his entire career with little offesnive help and has responded by being the best QB in the history of the Eagles organization which includes the zillion years that Ron Jaworski played for them. Think about the receivers that McNab had in those four NFC championshp game losses..Todd Pinkston (SCRUB), James Thrash (SCRUB), Antonio Freeman (WASHED UP WHEN HE PLAYED FOR THE EAGLES). He had no running game hisfirst three years with the team. Remember, McNab got drafted in 99 and Westbrook didn't get drafted until 2002. McNab lead them to the playoffs the 2000 and 2001 season without Westbrook. If you give McNab some great offensive weapons, then he would really be dangerous! Look at what he is doing because they added Desean Jackson. hopefully, they give him another weapon or 2 next year.

I'm a life long Browns fan and I normally believe that KII is full of crap. However, i side with him on this issue. 7 saph infections is ridiculous and the Browns need to do something to fix that type of problem. Obviously, they haven't fixed it yet so maybe applying some public pressure will make it a priority for them.

Having said that, I question KII's motives for revealing the situation. I seriously doubt that he had an altruistic motive. Instead, I still think this is about the Browns not giving him a new contract. KII is a spoiled, selfish, talented player that is used to everyone giving him what he wants. He played 2 games for the Browns in his first two years with his second season wiped out because he violated his contract by riding a motorcycle. In spite of that, the Browns did not take back any money from him which the collective bargaining agreement allowed them to do. They even tacked on a couple more years to his contract when there was no guarantee that he would be the same type of player that they envisioned him to be when they drafted him in the first round in 2004. As a result, I'm not trying to hear about how unfair the Browns have been towards him. the Browns are wrong in the current situation, but KII has been wrong in every other situation with the team. I would make him play out his contract as well. He's making $4 million a year, which is under his market value but more than what Chad Johnson is making. He needs to shut up and play ball.

I think the Browns will have an eventfull offseason again, which should see KII getting traded to someone for a 2nd & 5th round pick in 2009 draft (the same deal that New Orleans gave up to Jeremy Shockey who I don't think is as good as KII especially since KII can get still get better).

Shaq is loved in the media so he gets a pass on so many things that most players would get bashed about. Let's remember a few. First, Shaq needs to have surgery in the off season during 1 of his years with the Lakers. He declines to get the surgery in the off season and publicly states that his reason for not getting the surgery done is that he got hurt on COMPANY TIME SO HE SHOULD REHAB ON COMPANY TIME." This caused Shaq to miss all of training camp and the entire preseason and spend the first half of the season trying to get into playing shape. No one in the media says anything because Shaq is a nice guy. Second, Shaq misses one of the Lakers practices and gives a crazy excuse about an accident with chicken feathers being all over the road. It turned out that Shaq deliberately missed practice because he was shooting a commercial. No one in the media said anything about that either because Shaq is a nice guy. Finally, Kobe was clearly the better and more disciplined player between the two of them yet Shaq refused to acknowledge that by the time they had won 2 championships it was Kobe's time to shine. Kobe wouldn't defer to Shaq and it pissed Shaq off. The media all sided with Shaq because he is a nice guy, but when he gets traded to Miami guess what Shaq does...DEFER TO A SHOOTING GUARD. He deferred to Wade because Wade constantly talked about what a great player Shaq was and how it was Shaq's team not his. In short, Wade catered to Shaq's ego and Shaq in turn deferred to Wade on the court. The result, Miami won a championship because Shaq needed to defer to the SG just like what Kobe was requesting. In the NBA Finals, Wade went off and averaged something like 33 points per game and Shaq was merely a compliementary player yet the media constantly talked about Shaq being the reason for the championship. Give me a break.

I'm amazed that people even have a discussion about whether or not Shaq is the best center of all time because he is not in my top 5 which are:
1. Wilt Chamberlain- No one will ever put up the numbers that Wilt did. Averaging 50 points and 25 rebounds a game for an entire season and he even led the league in assists one year (a feat that even MJ never accomplished).
2. Kareem- The most unstoppable shot (SKY HOOK) in the history of basketball and also a good rebounder, shot blocker and passer.
3. Bill Russle- Personified the slogan that Idiot Raiders owner Al Davis made famous...JUST WIN BABY! 11 championships will never be topped, but he couldn't defend either of the players that are above him on this list. He was a great teammate and leader, but they won 11 championships because they had a million Hall of Famers on those teams like Cousy, Havilcheck, Sam Jones, etc.
4. Akeem Olajuwon- He was an absolute match up nigtmare for centers and is probably the most skilled big man to ever pick up a basketball. The dream shake was probably second only to the Sky Hook. He was absolytely amazing and he could do everything on the court.
5. David Robinson- Prior to getting hurt in 1996, he was a dominant scorer, rebounder, shot blocker and good passer. He even had enough class and common sense to train and defer to Duncan so he could win 3 championships. He is not as physically dominant as Shaq, but he gave 100% effort on the floor every night and got the most out of hi talent.

Like most Laker fans, I don't like Lamar Odom. He has so much talent and rarely gets the most out of it. However, I think its unfair to cite him as the sole reason the Lakers were embarassed in the Finals. Everyone not named Kobe was to blame especially Phil Jackson. The Finals are the time to put your best perimeter player on the other teams best perimeter player, which should ave meant Kobe guarding Pierce one on one in every game. If you looked at the games, Phil continuously switched Kobe between guarding Pierce and ray Allen. Everyone hyped up Pierce, but every time Kobe was guarding him Pierce did next nothing and ditto for Ray Allen.

Having said all of that, its time for Odom to go. I thought the Lakers should have pulled the trigger on the Artest trade because he brings exactly what the Lakers didn't have, minus Kobe's play, in the NBA Finals...DEFENSIVE TOUGHNESS. He is a head case, but you take your chances like the Bulls did with Rodman. I know they would have had to eat the contract of one of those overpaid scrubs on the Kings, but I think it would have been worth it because the Lakers would have a won championship.

Here is my proposal for the Lakers to win it all. First, Trade Odom and Trevor Ariza to the Heat for Shawn Marion. This gives the Lakers a high energy player that loves to run the floor, rebound and play defense. Also, Marion is on record as being a big fan of kobe. Plus, he is a free agent at the end of the season. Second, Pau Gasol to the Pistons for Rasheed Wallace and a throw in player to make the salaries match up. Gasol makes $15 million and Wallace makes $13 million so the Pistons would need to throw in something else. I think Joe D would make the deal because Sheed can't give thePistons what they need every night, which is a dominant presence on the blocks. Gasol doesn't have any defensive toughness, which everyone learned from the Finals, but he is good for 18 points and 8 rebounds a night. Those numbers dwarf what sheed did on offense last year. However, Sheed would fit the Lakers needs very well. Kobe is absolutely unstoppable so he doesn't need someone to dominate. They need defense, rebounding and shot making all of which Sheed can supply. Finally, pray that Bynum is healthy for the entire year.

Imagine the following line up for the Lakers: PG- Fisher, SG- Kobe, SF- Marion, PF- Wallace and C- Bynum. I guarantee the only thing that would stop that line up from winning it all is injuries. Also, Marion and Wallace both would be in the last year of their deals. It would be rent 2 good players to win it all kinf of like the 49ers did in the 1994 season when they brought in deion and slew of other players for a 1 year rental that resulted in them winning it all.

What do you think?

Goodell wont do anything, but I'm not sure there is anything that he can do. Of course, I think Al Davis is an idiot that needs to sell the team and move on with his life. He had some major accomploshments with the Raiders in the 70s and 80s, but the game has passed him by. He is looking like a washed up boxer (see Evander Holyfield and Larry Holmes) that is just holding on and the longer he holds on the more he embarasses himself and destroys his once great legacy.

Of course, I could be wrong and Goodell does a power move like the NBA did in the arly 80s when it forced Ted Stepien to sell the Cleveland Cavs to Gordon Gund because he kept giving away players like James Worthy and Charles Oakly while getting nothing in return and constantly making trades for garbage players that involved the Cavs repeatedly not having 1st round draft picks. Stepien is the reason that the NBA has a rule prohibiting a team from going consecutive years without first round draft picks.

Hey Trickykidd, let's hold off on using the problems of an idiot like Travis Henry as reflective of everyone from the gheto. i grew up in the projects of Cleveland in the 70s and I graduated from Ohio State in 1996, from University of Akron law school in 2002, I'm in my second year of seminary at Ashland Theological Seminary and I'm 35 with no kids. Everyone from impoverished communities does not make the same types of choices as Henry.

Having said that, Henry is an absolute idiot if he did this. The guy was once a pretty good RB in the NFL, but he has allowed poor decisions to virtually ruin his life. Unfortunately, he is the latest in a long line of NFL knuckleheads such as Bam Morris and Nate Newton. Remember, Morris (starting RB with the Steelers before they got Jerome Bettis in 96) and Newton (all pro guard with the Cowboys) were both good NFL players that turned to drugs after their NFL carrers although their drug profession of choice was marijuana not cocaine. I hope there are some kids in high school and college that are keeping up with this story so they can avoid making such stupid decisions.

Aaron Rodgers will play on Sunday unless he is crazy! He is tryng to fill the shoes of 1 of the greatest QBs of all time. I loved watching Favre, but I can't call him the greatest QB ever because he only won 1 championship. Anyway, Rodgers has to play through this if he ever wants to shut up Packer fans because the thing that truly made Favre great IS his ability to play through pain. Rodgers knows this so I say he will play, but he wont be anywhere near as good as Favre was able to play in pain which will get people to talking in Green Bay. I think he will stink up the joint and probably get pulled by the coach at some point. If he has to miss like 3 or 4 games, then Green Bay can forget about making the playoffs let alone winning the division. Rodgers is struggling the last 2 weeks, but at least has the makings of a solid NFL QB. The back ups are just kids that will be in completely over their heads especially since the Packers have no run game with Grant's heart going South the minute they gave him that huge contract.

I don't care what Flip Saunders record is, he should have been fired. The Pistons were already a very good basketball team when he got there, Larry Brown did a great job making them into a defensive team and Flip was supposed to come in and spark the offense to lead them to another championship. Dumars did his part by doing a reclamation project on the bench, which is an effective young group that 2nd only to the Lakers. The problem is that Flip has never been that good of a coach. He gets credit for the T-Wolves winning, but the reality is that KG was beast and Flip just tagged along. Only a bone head coach lets Tayshawn Prince and Chauncey Billup guard Lebron one on one as my Cavs made their epic run to the Finals last year. Popovich is a great coach and the first thing he did was decide to assign 3 Spurs, not just Bruce Bowen, to stop Lebron. The result was the Spurs sweeping the Cavs and winning a championship. THAT WAS GREAT COACHING AND IT IS THE SAME THING THAT LARRY BROWN WOULD HAVE DONE. As a matter of fact, it is exactly what Larry Brown did when they beat the Lakers 4-1. He triple teamed Kobe and dared Shaq to average 40 points per game to beat him. Shaq didn't and the Lakers got embarassed.

The question for the Pistons now is who should they hire as head coach and do they keep their starting 5 together. I think their time with Sheed is done. If they can find a solid deal they should trade him. He was completely embarassed by KG in the Eastern Conference finals and has never lived up to the immense potential that he has. He has so much talent, but not once did he average 20 points and 10 rebounds. His best season was his first in Portland when he averaged 19 points and 10 rebounds, but he never duplicated those numbers. The Pistons had a good run with the current squad, but its time to break it up. I think they need to focus on rebuilding around the backcourt and trade Prince as well. Maybe they can package Prince and Sheed to the Bulls for the Number one pick and noah. Sheed would give the Bulls an immediate post presence, if they can convince him to stay down there rather than shooting so many jumpshots, and Prince immediately makes them better on the defensive end. The Pistons could use the pick to draft Beasley who is bound to be a consistent 20-10 guy for the next 10 years.

I agree with jj70. NFL teams cut players all the time for any reason or no reason at all. Thurman was a knucklehead in college and a knucklehead for his brief time in the league. However, it is COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS to cut him because he didn't make it back to a voluntary workout due to being all broke up over the woman that raised him, who also happened to be his only remaining family, pass away. The Bengals were wrong for that!

My Browns are looking for help at inside linebacker and what better way for Thurman to get back at the Bengals then sign a team friendly deal with incentives with a division rival. I think the Browns and Thurman would both benefit from the arrangement. Before Thurman started getting into trouble, he looked like a very promising MLB. He led their team in tackles one year.

I'm 35 years old and the Clippers have been virtually horrible for my entire lifetime. They make disastroud decisions on regular basis. I'm not a proponent of drafting the best player available, but I think that is who they need to go with it. However, I think that player should be DJ Augustine from Texas. I'm telling you right now that he is THE BEST PG IN THIS DRAFT. Derrick Rose gets all of the hype because Memphis balled this year, but check their stats and you will see that Augustine was better than him in the regular season in just about every meaningful category. Augustine is a true PG and reminds me a lot of the last PG from Texas to get drafted in the lottery...TJ Ford. You see how Totronto became a playoff team the last 2 years once they got T Ford to be their starting PG. Augustine could pay similar dividends for the Clippers. Plus, his selection may make Elton Brand decide to stay rather than opt out.

As an OSU alum, i would love to see Redd come on back home. He had the chance to come to Cleveland a few years ago, but turned down the chance to be on a winning team in order to sign a max contract with the Bucks. I aint mad at him, but he would be a great fit for the Cavs because James, Redd and Gibson would be deadly. James and Gibson are the only 2 players on the roster that I believe are untouchable so the Bucks could take their picks. I'm not sure how the salaries match up, but i think a good exchange would be Wally Szerbiak, Damon Jones, Delonte West, and Anderson Vrajeo for Redd. I think the Bucks would like the deal because Vrajeo makes them better defensively immediately and the other three can make up for Redd's scoring. The Cavs would become better immediately, but wouldn't be as deep.

The Cavs starting line up would be:
PG Daniel Gibson
SG Michael Redd
SF Lebron
PF Ben Wallace- I would love it if we could find someone to take him, but that contract makes him unmoveable
C Z
- Our bench would be Joe Smith, Pavlovic, Dwayne Jones and we should resign Ira Newble since we would have room for him in the rotation. We still need a true PG, but I would like this team because it would surround Lebron with lethal shooters in Redd and Gibson. A true PG to run the show would take the Cavs to the NBA Finals with a chance to win it.

The Bulls need to keep Heinrich because he is versatile enough to play PG and SG. Also, he is a good character guy that is affordable. The problem with their team is that they have no one with a low post game, therefore, it seems obvious to me that they should draft Beasley. Derrick Rose may end up being a good PG, but he keeps the Bulls in the same mold that they have been in while Beasley signals a shift in philosophy. They should also trade Deng, Nocioni and Thomas to the Nuggets for Melo.

The Bulls starting line up could be:
PG Kirk Heinrich
SG Larry Hughes
SF Melo
PF Michael Beasley
C Joakim Noah
- This would be a promising, young nucleus to build around. They also have Gooden coming off the bench at PF.

Why is anyone surprised that Mayo is the subject of this type of inquiry? I thought this was going on the entire time he was in high school and I was shocked that it was not discovered long before he got to college. If true, which I believe it is, then the NCAA needs to throw the book at USC. There is no way that USC can claim they had no idea what was going on when there are reports that the Gillory dude was frequently in contact with the USC coaching staff. At the end of the day, USC was a program in shambles that made a deal with the devil to gain some quick explosure through a star player. They were hoping they would have the next Carmello Anthony, but Mayo couldn't even get them out of the first round. Anyway, they should be banned from postseason play for the next couple of years and loose some scholarships. Ditto for the football program because I don't think anyone really believes that Bush didn't take the money and gifts.

This whole situation is just like C Webb. He denied the allegations for 10 years until he was facing a perjury charge and the possibility of going jail. Unfortunately, none of this bothers Mayo because he is still going to be a lottery pick. If the NCAA wants to stop these types of violations from occurring then there are 2 things they can do. First, they could pay the players. I would prefer this option because its only fair to me that they get some compesnation other than their scholarship and $500 monthly stipend since colleges make millions off of them. The least the NCAA could do is triple the stipend, which would be the equivalent of those kids having a good part-time job. They don't pay them and they wont let them have jobs unless its over the summer. That's absurd! Second, they could put a provision within the scholarship offer, the contract, which says if the school is subject to any type of negative publicity or sanctions from the NCAA due to the player's conduct, then the school can recover damages against the player. This provision would really be effective because those guys don't care anything about that school once they go pro, but if they knew they could end up having to pay the thousands of dollars or maybe even millions depending on what types of sanctions get imposed, then I think you would have kids ignore the temptations because the cost would outweigh the benefits.

I agree with mixin up medicine, but Larry is asking for outrageous money right now that I think the Cardinals would be crazy to pay him. They have offered him a contract that would make him the highest paid receiver in the NFL and the 3rd highest paid nonquarter back in the NFL, but he has said no. I think the issue at this point is whether or not he wants to remain in the dessert. He may believe that Arizona will not turn the corner and start winning, therefore, he is content to play out his remaining 2 years at those huge numbers and then test free agency.

I think the Cardinals will end up having to eat his contract because and try to reisgn him in free agency because I don't think any team would trade for him at this pioint or they wouldn't get equal value for him if they did find a trade partner. I think everyone would agree that the Vikings got fleeced in the trade of Randy Moss because they got the No. 7 pick overall that year and it was Troy Williamson who they just traded for a sixth round draft pick. There isn't a receiver anywhere close to as good as Fitzgerald in this draft and the only team that would probably trade for him is the Vikings who are in the middle of the first round.

Personally, I find it funny that the Cardinals finally manage to draft a few players that have lived up to the hype and now they wont be able to write the check because they put absurd escalators in his contract that he actually reached. Imagine that, a player drafted number 3 overall that actually exceeded expectations. At least he didn't end up being a scrub like when they got stuck with Andre Wadsworth in 98.

That being said, I don't think they can keep Fitzgerald at his cap number. He is a very good receiver and his best football is still ahead of him but his cap number is $14 and I think $13 million the next 2 seasons. That is way too much money for a player that can't carry a team by himself. Bret Favre and Marino were players in their prime that could carry a team all by themselves. Fitzgerald is not in that class. He had back to back great seasons and they didn't make the playoffs in either season. If they keep him there is no room for them to improve the team except through the draft. It will hurt, but I think they have to try to trade him and Minnesota would be a good place since they have the money and he has family there.

I think the Falcons should call his bluff. No NFL player is really prepared to leave millions of dollars on the table by sitting out an entire season. However, Joey Galloway came close when he sat out the first 8 games of the season when he was with Seattle. The funny thing is that if he doesn't play he will loose the millions of dollars and still may not be able to leave after the season because they can franchise him. He looses all the way around.

If the Falcons decide to trade him, then I would love for my Browns to give up a first round pick in 2009 to get him. Our secondary is terrible and he would be an immediate upgrade over Leigh Bodden, Brodney Pool and Eric Wright. Are you listening Savage to what I'm saying?