Random thoughts from some of Week Two’s games

The second week showed the continued dominance of some units, while weaknesses became more glaring than the hot August sun for others:

Joey Harrington is still struggling, Vikings’ Adrian Peterson has some insane moves, Chad Pennington has Kellen Clemons hot on his tail, Vince Young still needs some work, Brady Quinn can throw touchdowns against the Lions’ 3rd string defense, the Panthers’ offense was completely inept against Philly, and the Jags have some wild running backs.

And now for some more organized thoughts on some of this week’s games.

Stop working. Stop doing your homework. Stop hanging out with your wife/girlfriend. Catch up on the NFC training camps.
– The New Orleans Saints will help open the season against the Steelers on Sunday, and as is the norm for the Hall of Fame game, many of the players aren’t too excited about an extra preseason game.

Sean Payton, however, has taken this in stride, and believes this field trip to Canton will be a great learning experience for the team. It’s also going to be an opportunity to let a special teams group gel that will look completely different from the ‘06 unit.

Hold out news from around the NFL

With many NFL camps in full swing, it’s time to look at some players who were hold out possibilities. 

Larry Johnson, Marc Bulger, Lance Briggs, Asante Samuel, Michael Strahan, and Pete Kendall. 

Well let’s first look over who did end up reporting to camp. 

Lance Briggs of the Bears decided, along with his agent Drew Rosenhaus, that it would be in the best interest for the linebacker to be in camp on time, and be able to perform well enough to try again for a new contract next year.  Briggs signed his $7.2 million tender well in advance of Chicago’s first practice.

Oh, That Wacky Giants Secondary

The New York Giants and first-round pick cornerback Aaron Ross have agreed on a five year deal worth as much as $13.5 million. For the Giants, Ross was the last draft pick to sign before the start of training camp tomorrow.

Ross comes over from a highly acclaimed Texas Longhorn secondary which also included the Vikings’ Cedric Griffin, the Titans’ Michael Griffin, the Raiders’ Michael Huff, and the 49ers’ Tarell Brown. It’s no wonder that it took Ross until his senior year before he would be named a full time starter.

It’s alright, everybody’s doing it…

With the salary cap having gone through the roof and many agents around the league clamoring in the ears of their talented clients, next week could see an abundance of holdouts and salary demands.

Agents for Asante Samuel and Lance Briggs have both come out and threatened to have their clients sit out not only training camp, but most of the regular season as well. These messy events take place every offseason thanks to the franchise tag, a tool used by teams to keep their star players from flying the coop. Of course, there’s a new salary cap in town now, and with it, a slew of new problems, disagreements, and ultimately greed.

– Wade Phillips wants to instill more of a “family atmosphere” within the Cowboys’ roster. Terence Newman, one of the leaders of the Boys’, is apparently a key to this. What’s he gonna do, get his grandmother to rob some boy scouts?

– As a teenager, new Raiders’ coach Lane Kiffin dreamed of being a head coach in the NFL. A few years later, he’s the head man in Oakland and nearly finished with puberty.

– Will the Lions beat the clock in signing Corey Redding? With just under two hours to go we expect an announcement here any minute. This seems much more likely than the other two franchised players, Asante Samuel and Lance Briggs, signing their offers.

– Marc Bulger is prepared to hold out if the Saint Louis Rams do not work on signing him to a new extension before training camp.  Putting that into perspective, camp is only a couple weeks away, and they don’t seem to be going anywhere in negotiations. Were I a Rams fan, though, I wouldn’t panic just yet that they won’t get it done.  Says Bulger in regards to the possibility: “I don’t think it’s going to happen, but you never know. I don’t want to rule anything out,” he said. “The Rams have been good to me. I’ve been there my whole career, and I think everything’s going to get worked out.

Fantasy Impact #5 — The NFC East

It’s been a few days since our last Fantasy Impact but now that our new home has been set up we’re happy to start rolling them out again, just as fast as before.

Today we start talking about that OTHER conference: The underperforming NFC.

And the first division we’ll be discussing from said conference is one featuring names seen in the newspaper headlines quite a bit the last couple of seasons: TO, Romo, McNabb, Eli.

We’ll get right down to those guys in a second, but first, we have a promise to keep. That’s right… It’s time for your daily jewel of wisdom.

Top 10 Non-First Round Second Year Players

We all know the names of the superstars to come out of last year’s first round. Vince Young. Reggie Bush. AJ Hawk. Vernon Davis. Matt Leinart.

Instead, today we’re going to look at the best players not drafted in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft.

So here it is…the top 10 second year players not drafted in the first round…….

10. Cedric Griffin CB Minnesota 2nd Round — 41 Tackles 2 Interceptions

Tony Romo’s Next Destination?

The contract extension talks between the Dallas Cowboys and their young quarterback Tony Romo seem to be over, at least for the time being.  In all likelihood, as the Dallas Morning News points out, Romo will probably receive a large contract at some point during the 2007 season. 

Depending on how the first month of the season goes for Romo, however, the leverage of either side could swing widely.  The downside for the Cowboys is if Romo has a great start to the ‘07 campaign he could start to think about opting for free agency in the spring.  The price tag to lock him up would certainly rise significantly.