The joys of football are upon us, and NGPF is here to catch you up on the games you missed

Good morning, America! I’m not sure about you, but I had a great time sitting back and watching some football on the good old HDTV. (I probably can’t say the same for my girlfriend, but hey, she needs her training too, right? After all, my weekends should be all but gone in a few weeks here.)

New Orleans bounces back and Buffalo puts up decent performance

Drew Brees showed America that the Pittsburgh loss was a deviation from what appears to be a dominating offense in New Orleans.  Talk about a team with young, yet polished, skill players in nearly very position…  I see a system as stat-friendly as Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

While it’s not glamorous, Olindo Mare may end up having a “resurgence” in the Superdome after a few too many years kicking from the Marlins infield dirt.

All the major AFC news of the day.  Yes, all of it.  Don’t argue with me.

Can I make a suggestion?  Click the links.  They take you to the story we are referring to.  You will learn things.

– The biggest news of the day would have to be Denver Broncos’ linebacker Warrick Holdman going down with what NFL Live reported as a spinal cord concussion. The injury shook the teams and fans, which eventually led to Mike Shanahan cutting the day short.

Ghost Ridin’ Marshawn Is Lucky number 13

Very late Thursday night, Adam Schefter reported that the Buffalo Bills and Marshawn Lynch have come to terms on a five-year deal for the 12th pick in the 2007 draft. According to Profootballtalk.com, the contract is worth a total of $18.93 million, and included is guaranteed money totaling $10.28 million.

Like many of the other contracts consummated today involving players who were drafted in the first half of round one this past April, this deal includes an easily voidable sixth year. The team is making a concession to allow its prospect to hit free agency early in exchange for compromise on the agent’s part in accepting less than the 19% increase that Lawrence Timmons received from the Steelers a few days ago.

– Much maligned second round pick Alan Branch has signed, leaving the Arizona Cardinals with just one draft choice left unsigned (first-rounder Levi Brown).

– Unsurprisingly, Michael Vick’s welcome seems to be worn out in the ATL.

– In other Vick news, the court house he attended today turned into a full blown nightmare. Good thing Vick has the support of three morons from Boston.

– Jonathan Ogden is being placed on the PUP list due to a lingering toe injury, meaning he probably won’t be seeing much action until week one of the regular season.  He will then play all 16 games.  Duh.

– In an obvious direct response to our write-up two days ago, the Bears are now making headway with Lance Briggs.

– Priest Holmes is ready to resume his career with Kansas City. (We’ll see how that goes)

– Curtis Martin, however, is ready for retirement. (We feel 5% more confident that this is final)

– Bills’ second rounder Paul Posluszny signs his deal just in time for camp.

– The Eagles’ first pick, Kevin Kolb, is signed and ready to make Donovan McNabb’s life miserable.

If you’re new to NGPF, then you probably are unaware that we are involved in a mock draft involving 12 sports blogging sites. The idea behind us joining was to A) do a little fantasy football warm-up, and B) demonstrate to all our vast, expansive, and often intimidating NFL knowledge.

Again, as a reminder, we were left with the #7 pick in the draft and ended up being “forced” to take a QB in the first round. This league in particular values touchdowns, both passing and rushing, as six points. Most leagues denote rushing touchdowns as six and passing TD’s as four points, so being “forced” in this situation was actually a bit of a windfall, in our ever-so-humble opinion.

Daunte Culpepper has finally been released by the Miami Dolphins, closing the chapter on a largely unsuccessful and frustrating comeback attempt from a significant 2005 season knee injury.

The Dolphins held onto him for as long as possible, hoping to get something out of a player who cost them a 2nd rounder and around seven million dollars a year. Instead, they were left with little interest in a disgruntled former Pro Bowler who refused to accept any trade and got feisty, taking them to court for said grievances.

So what’s next for Daunte “Small Hands” Culpepper?

ESPN is reporting that free agent Donovan Darius, released by the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier this offseason, has signed with the Oakland Raiders. For the Raiders this means that they’ll have two starting safeties who are much better at the line of scrimmage than in coverage. Current starting free safety Stuart Schweigert is the odd man out, and we’re surprised it took this long for the Raiders to bring in somebody to replace him. He’s easily been one of the worst players on what has actually been quite a good defense operating under Buddy Ryan’s son the last couple of seasons.

Short Slants

– Anthony Waters, the Chargers rookie inside linebacker who will be looking to start this year, has officially been charged with assault. Someone threw a rock at his car and he proceeded to make the gentleman a bit bloody. NGPF advocates this. If you throw a rock at our car, we will beat your ass, too. Free Anthony Waters!

– The Falcons seem to have insurance against more rotting animal corpses being found on Michael Vick owned properties.

– Ravens’ quarterback Steve McNair triumphs over a stupid law.