Two Clarkson Jewelers club tickets for sale - Free Food, Drink VIP parking, etc etc.. I am selling them on Ebay at the moment for the Eagles game. The opening bid is 120$ below face value. Impress a friend or client with VIP treatment at the dome! These are some great tickets with a great view of the game and access to the club level Rams's club and Clarkson Jewelers club. Private entrance to the dome and the whole nine yards. Check it out! http://cgi.ebay.com/Rams-Versus-Philadelphia-Eagles-VIP-Tickets-2-Park-/120764683476?pt=US_Tickets_all_in_one&hash=item1c1e22d4d4

Bumped by VanRam: Insightful fanpost focused on a subject very worthy of discussion.

The new news that owners are pushing for a "right of first refusal means the following:

The owners want up to three tags that will allow them the ability to match any offer to a Free agent that is given by another team.

Personally I think this is insane.  These players are either free or they are not and with the RFA tags,  Franchise tags and Transition tags that is enough already.

Free Agency is one of the things that keeps parity in the NFL which is why it is so interesting.  Any team any year has a shot!

My solution?  The poison pill!  So for instance we want to sign Reggie Bush - We simply insert a clause in the contract when he comes to visit and we sit him down that says "If Reggie plays more then 4 games in LA then he will make an additional 3 million dollars per game played in LA.  This will destroy any chance that the saints have to match and make the right of first refusal moot.

So are we about to enter into the year of the poison pill?  Do owners win the right of first refusal?  What do you all think about the owners pushing this point?

I hate to be the person sounding like the harbinger of doom here but the person who was once the optimist(me) is now becoming a pessimist that we will have a full 2011 season.  Both sides seem satisfied to wait for the 3 judge panel to deliver their ruling.  Nothing will change for the next several weeks and the players have yet to acknowledge the owners offers with a counter offer.

 

This is becoming the dispute we all dreaded it would become and the two sides seem to both be crying for football with their mouths while their actions seem to be yearning for "leverage"

 

What does the timeline look like at this point that gets us to football?  Why has the optimist turned to pessimist?  Well let's take a look.....

Continue reading this post »

(Bumped to the front page by 3k. Great take on the lockout, which is the reason I cry myself to sleep at night now.)

While the fight goes on the players and the owners trade barbs and each offer made by the league is essentially ignored by the players representatives.  The players are fixated on their old CBA and they want to run by those rules.

 

Do the players even realize what they are fighting for?  Under the old CBA the minimum salaries are upwards of 350K depending on years of service it ranges up to a million dollars.  The rank and file players of the NFL who make up the majority of the league will not be getting much more then that with a new deal so why this big fight?

 

We keep hearing that the players are fighting about what they want the cap to be in future years however many teams do not even spend up to the cap.  The players that look to benefit from a new CBA with more sharing of revenue are only the elite players that push this cap number and these elite players make up a very small portion of the overall league.

Let's look at some of what we have heard so far from the leagues proposal and see what exactly the rank and file players are going to get from this new deal if they simply accepted the deal that is on the table.

 

More after the jump

Continue reading this post »

Ok so here is my first mock as we roll through the pro days! Perhaps a bit of wishful thinking here but I think some suprising players will drop a bit due to the depth of players in this draft.

Enjoy!


1. St. Louis Rams

Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma

Sam Bradford has passed this medical check with "flying colors" http://www.fantasysp.com/player/nfl/Sam_Bradford/821229 or so he says and if the truth was otherwise I am sure it would be front page news.

The Rams have been preparing their lines and building inside out for the last two years. While this project still has a few pieces to put in place hey are close and they are staring a franchise QB right in the face. There is a strong and reasonable concern about Bradford's arm but the fact is that the shoulder surgery is something that will make the shoulder stronger by virture of how the surgery works.

At his proday Bradford will be asked to throw all of the NFL routes that he will be expected to throw once he is drafted. If he can do this and do it well on his Pro day then he is the pick at number 1.

While many folks are advocating a later round pick or waiting until next year there is a serious concern that neiter will actually happen. This is the chance for the Rams to take a big step in their rebuilding proces. While there is no such thing as a "sure thing" this is about as close as they will get for a very long time.

I will go with a very respected players personnal evaluators summary of Bradford being a "Better prospect then Peyton Manning" coming out. Peyton had many of the same knocks on him coming out and frankly no one looking back is saying "man I wish we would have had a franchise DT to take over Peyton"!!

Links for Bradford:

Gil Brandt "When I see him today versus Manning in 1998," Brandt said, "he looks like a better prospect."

Read more from this Tulsa World article at

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20100228_92_B1_INDIAN36495 http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20100228_92_B1_INDIAN36495


Sam Bradford Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwstGmNajh0


Round 2:
Saint Louis Rams:

Sergio Kindle, OLB, Texas, 6-4/255
Kindle suprisingly slips to the second round in a James L. fashion the Rams get another great second round LB. Kindle has a great ability to rush the passer and is sound in pass coverage. He can be an upgrade at SAM or very possibly project to WILL LB in the 4-3 defense.


Round 3:

Saint Louis Rams:

Tyson Alualu, DT, California

Defensive tackle needs some depth and additional talent. This DT will help in both the run game and he can be explosive in the pass rush. This will be a great addition to the Rams D line.



Round 4:

Saint Louis Rams:

Austen Lane: DE, Murray State

The Rams have serious holes with the likely departure of Little and Hall this is a strong prospect at DE that fits well in the 4-3 defense and will compliment the line playing across from Chris long very nicely!

To quote Pat Kirwen on Sirius NFL radio "Often we find where there is smoke there is fire" concerning the Donovan Mcnabb Trade to the Rams.

 

More smoke has been seen.  Per the link below Mcnabb could be a Ram by tomorrow.

My personal thoughts on this? 

I like Sam Bradford but if the Rams FO is not convinced that either Bradford or Clausen is the answer to our problems then this is a very good solution.  This answers our QB issue for possibly five years(McNabb is 33) and allows us to develop a new QB as well as pick BPA at draft selection one.

It is rumored that the Rams will give up the 33rd overall selection.  Is there someone at that spot that we like more then McNabb and Suh or McNabb and McCoy?

Your thoughts?

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/HeadLines.aspx?sport=NFL&hl=168772

 

The following article has a good deal of discussion on the top QB prospects in the draft.  Specfically Gil Brandt the "godfather" of the NFL has made the bold statement that Bradford is a better prospect then Peyton Manning was and has alot of the same "knocks" that Peyton did coming out.

Brandt has more then 40 years of experience rating NFL prospects.  Is a former GM and has the ear of many a GM in the league.

If this is the case and we believe Gil is there any doubt as to who the number 1 overall pick should be?  I put alot of stock in the information from Brandt.  What is your take?

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20100228_92_B1_INDIAN36495

I have a different take then the recent rumblings here that we should persue a trade for Vilma.  While Vilma would be a nice fit I think it would be a one spot fit where we need to address several positions.  We could do this with some drastic player changes.

Bear with me on this one.

Draft Sedrik Ellis,  This guy has been nothing but positive,  he would work great as a nose or could play a 4-3 Tackle if we need to depending on our choice for this year.

Try to Sign Allen Faneca,  I wrote a bit on this before.  We do not just want to have a shot next year but with 3 wins we want to fix some problem spots.  If we can sign Faneca then Cut pace which should give us the cap room we need.

Try to Sign Lance Briggs,  This is in place of the trade for Vilma.  I see Briggs as a better fit and the guy is a more dominate player then Vilma.  This may create some cap issues but we NEED to address Bruce's contract.  If we do then we can make this move or at least try and cut a linebacker and hopefully restructure Bruce.

Now look at this picture.  Adam Moves outside to DE,  Ellis takes over the middle,  Briggs at LB and Faneca to address out LT issues.  Our DBs stay out of trouble and all of a sudden the rams have a Defense and we shored up LT for a few years to come...

If this all falls apart and wild speculation sometimes does.  And we can not sign Faneca or Briggs then We do not cut pace,  Sign Ellis and try to Trade for Vilma...Or work that at the same time to see which deal we can work out. Pace and Bruce = 14.5 Million in Cap space. Alot can be done with that and few people think Pace will last the year in 08

I like to dream big.  We have alot of issues to address up front and in the LB core and this does alot of it in a big sweep. If you have a choice between Briggs and Vilma which would you choose? :)