Comedic.Sans

NEW YORK—During a visit with the team Wednesday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told the New York Jets to lower their Super Bowl expectations, suggesting they consider setting more manageable goals for the 2010-2011 season. "As commissioner, you hate to see one of your teams get disappointed, so I just told them, 'Look, the Super Bowl isn't for everybody,'" said Goodell, adding that while he understands the Jets went deep into the playoffs last season, it's important for them to recognize the difference between being a solid contender and a fluke hot streak. "A wild-card berth, that's realistic. Hell, going 8-8 and missing the playoffs by a game would be a pretty darn good season for them." After visiting the Jets, Goodell caught a plane to Tampa Bay, where he told the entire Buccaneers squad they should look into learning a trade or maybe going into sales. [Ed note: I figured it was particularly fitting after the 9 point atrocity against football committed on MNF by the Jets.]

Courtesy of JohnHannahRules - I'll just bump it onto the front page.

'Shutdown Corner: Talk about your relationship with receivers coach Sanjay Lal - word is, you guys really hit it off in a pre-draft ccouting combine conversation. Louis Murphy: Yeah, I talked to Sanjay at the combine for awhile. We had talked. I thought they had their receiver who they wanted, so I was just looking for another team. I thought I was going to the Patriots, and the Raiders traded up, traded to that pick. I saw the area code when they called, and I thought, ‘I think I'm going to Cali', so it kind of all happened fast. The Patriots were really interested. Coach Belichick knows [Florida] Coach [Urban] Meyer, and asked a lot about me. I talked with them on the phone. So pretty much when the Patriots came up in the fourth round, I thought that's where I might be going." Interesting, given the Pats had picked Brandon Tate in the third round, 83rd pick. The Pats picked up Rich Ohrnberger with the pick *above* that Louis Murphy was eventually taken, so if the Pats had their eye on him, he was obviously less important than snagging Ohrnberger. Given how Ohrnberger got two meaningful snaps last season and Murphy got 500 receiving yards, you could argue they should've called Murphy's name (especially when the WR corps fell apart).

"Outlining the state of negotiations between the team and star quarterback Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts team president Bill Polian doesn't expect a fast deal. Why not? Two reasons: the uncertain outlook for the collective bargaining agreement and the complexity of a blockbuster contract that's expected to be the richest in NFL history. Talks are taking place between the Colts and Manning's agent, Tom Condon. However, no deal is imminent. And the labor situation is a factor, according to Polian..." Sub in "Brady" for "Manning"; "Patriots" for "Colts" and "Kraft" for "Polian", and you get the picture. It's precisely the situation the writers on Pats Pulpit had been hypothesising all along - nobody is going to sign a $100M deal without knowing the labour/league situation first.

One of the things that stands out: a possible reason for Kaczur's lucrative (and perhaps baffling?) contract extension. "On the Right you kick with your left foot, on the Left you kick with the right foot. On the Right your outside punch hand is your right and on the Left your outside punch hand is your left. You get the picture where this is going. This why good swing tackles (backups that play both) are paid well and needed desperately for depth." Doesn't hurt that Kaczur can apparently fill in at Guard, too.

On his top five quarterbacks (not including himself): "Tom Brady is the best by far. It’s not even close. Drew Brees has got to be right there. Tony Romo’s a good player. I’ll take Philip Rivers there. And Peyton, he’s right there. No order except for Tom being the best. He does things that other guys can’t do. His pocket presence is better than those guys by far. He throws a better ball than just about all those guys. He’s a winner – better than all those guys." Interesting, given the guy's thrown "8,472 yards and 58 TDs to just 20 interceptions in the last 32 games... [and] rushing 58 times for 316 yards and five touchdowns". Given those stats, I'm pretty sure Aaron Rodgers knows a little about Quarterbacking. And Tom's #1 with a a bullet, apparently.

Hopefully the lessons Sims-Walker learned from Torry Holt in Holt’s one season in Jacksonville will stick... ...Sims-Walker said. "With Torry, it was all about doing every little thing you possibly could to be ready for Sunday. Get it right in practice. If you had an extra hour for film study, get in there and do it, even on a Saturday night before a game. "You had to get it right today because tomorrow wasn’t promised to you. If you dropped a ball in practice, Torry was right there saying, ‘Come on, we gotta pick it up.’ If [quarterback] David [Garrard] threw a bad pass, [Holt] would get on him, too." Now, Sims-Walker and the rest of the Jaguars are in a battle to prove that even without Holt, who was let go after one season and now is in New England, they can be an adequate receiving corps in what is increasingly a passing league.

Three Patriots make the team: TE Aaron Hernandez, New England Patriots Hernandez couldn’t have found a better home. He’ll consistently be asked to line up off the line, get down the field and create mismatches in the pass game. Should end up being one of the most productive pass catchers to come out of the class, regardless of position. LB Jermaine Cunningham, New England Patriots Cunningham is one guy who really flew under the radar all draft season. However, he’s an explosive, coordinated athlete who should be able to step in and instantly improve the Pats’ ability to reach the passer on third downs. DB Devin McCourty, New England Patriots He may lack elite quick-twitch ability when asked to get back up to speed, but he’s technically sound, physical off the line and knows how to play the football, which makes him a great fit in New England’s secondary.

[Warning: some coarse language, for those who worry about that kind of thing] Includes a few gems: "I think [Belichick] drugged us," McCourty, the former Rutgers cornerback, said. "We were all at his home for that welcoming dinner, and the next thing I knew I was blindfolded, going in and out of consciousness. I know at one point we were in a plane, because I heard a captain's announcement. When I tried to take my blindfold off I'm pretty sure Tedy Bruschi hit me across the face with a Super Bowl trophy. That's how I lost these teeth, I think." "I don't think we're in America," said 62nd overall pick Brandon Spikes, tilting a canteen upside down in a failed attempt to get one last drop of water. "I've never seen lizards that size in America. [Kade] Weston never had a chance." Although the group of draft picks thought they were making progress Thursday, they were demoralized when they came upon footprints they determined to be their own—an indicator that they had been walking in a circle for the last day and a half. The players were further dispirited when they discovered a Patriots-hat-wearing skeleton buried just beneath the sand that turned out to be the remains of 2009 New England draft pick Rich Ohrnberger. "We're all gonna die," [former Ohio wide receiver Taylor Price said].

This might explain a little more about the Devin McCourty pick: "Chiefs GM Scott Pioli and head coach Todd Haley were talking about the selection of Javier Arenas, who will essentially be the third corner. He was the 50th overall selection in the draft which, on the surface, seems a little high for a part-time starter. "The reality is, we studied this and most third corners on a team are now playing an upward 55 percent of the snaps a year," the Chiefs GM said." So yes; it's all about the snap count.

New England Patriots Pat Paschall, RB, North Dakota State Dane Fletcher, DE, Montana State Bryan Anderson, WR, CMU Sergio Brown, S, Notre Dame Kyle Love, DL, Mississippi State Ross Ventrone, S, Villanova

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)—The New England Patriots signed former Oakland Raiders tackle Gerard Warren on Saturday as they continued to restock their defensive line. Patriots coach Bill Belichick announced the move after the NFL draft... Warren, the third overall pick in the 2001 draft, spent four seasons with Cleveland, two with Denver and three with Oakland, which released him on March 11. "Warren started all 32 games he played in the past two seasons with 57 tackles and six sacks. In his 135 career games, 127 of them starts, he has 229 tackles and 32 sacks. He’s reached the playoff just once in nine seasons."