TODAY IS THE DAY, PLAYERS WILL VOTE YES & THE LOCKOUT WILL SOON BE LIFTED
There wasn't much to report on over the weekend & since I beat the hell out of this story all last week, I decided to give it, you & me a rest. I believe the players' executive committee will vote to recommend the deal for a vote. Then the 32 players' reps will vote to put it before the entire body of players for their vote, which will be done electronically. So by 6 PM today, we should have an agreement that will allow the players to re-certify their union which will allow the league to lift the lockout. This will take place before training camps are scheduled to open. I expect that to be by Thursday. The first three days of camp doesn't allow any hitting, so says the new CBA. There are a lot of new rules about practice hitting, when the new deal is ratified, I'll pass all of them on to you.
Look for the league to be open for business, on a limited basis, within hours of the players' positive vote. By tomorrow teams should be able to begin negotiations with their own UFA's & RFA's. They may also start issuing contract offers to undrafted college free agents. It's been reported that each team has but $75,000 for all undrated free agent signing bonuses. Before they routinely received $5K-$20K for signing. None of these deals can be finalized until the union is re-certified. Players with injury issues should be able to seek help from the teams by tonight.
Teams should be able to begin negotiations with other teams' free agents by week's end. Drafted rookies should be signing this week as well. I don't see a lot of resistance since the new CBA includes a penalty for any drafted player who holds out. Plus the amount each player can make has already been established. The length of the contract is set in stone too, 1st round picks will receive a 4-year contract with a team option in the 5th year. All other rounds will receive four-year deals & undrafted free agents will get three-year contracts. The only wiggle room is establishing how much of the signing bonus is to be guaranteed. The final piece of the player personnel transactions puzzle would be trades. I don't have a firm grasp on when they could be allowed, but expecting it by the weekend would be a reasonable guess.
The league's general managers are about to get busier than they've ever been times ten. The really good ones should excel, the inexperienced or lesser qualified GM's will struggle. This will be multi-tasking taken to a whole new level. We'll quickly be able to identify the guys deserving of the big bucks they're paid.
In other news:
HBO & the NFL has announced there would be no "Hard Knocks" this eason, just too many variables opening training camps.
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was married over the weekend. Patriarch of the Steeler family, Dan Rooney, the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, returned home for the ceremony as did many of Ben's teammates. Even foul-mouth James Harrison attended in spite of some awful comments he made about his QB in a Men's Journal piece released recently.
To reiterate the Chiefs' needs during the free agency period, I told you a few weeks ago nose tackle, inside linebacker, offensive right tackle, wide receiver, running back & defensive end should be examined. Yesterday, in a piece he wrote in The Kansas City Star, Kent Babb agreed, putting right tackle & nose tackle as the top priorities. I'd love to see San Francisco NT Aubrayo Franklin in a Chiefs' uni next season. Ditto ILB Barrett Ruud or even 14-year vet Takeo Spikes(short term answer) to run alongside Derrick Johnson.
Quickly looking at undrafted college free agents, I'll give you 5 players I like, but realistically, none will end up in Kansas City because that's just the way it works.
1. Ian Williams--nose tackle--Notre Dame - If a veteran F/A isn't signed, get another rookie
2. Ryan Jones--cornerback--Northwest Missouri State - One of the very best Division II players in 2010.
3. David Mims--offensive tackle--Virginia Union - mountain of a man, 6' 8" 356, raw but he has the most important asset for an edge blocker, good feet. Total project.
4. Mark Herzlich--linebacker--Boston College - Two years ago he was a first round prospect. Herzlich fought his way back from Ewings Sarcoma, a rare cancer that attacks the legs. His speed is down significantly as well as his flexibility, but the strength, superior football intelligence & that heart of a champion remain. Worth a shot, could eventually get close to where he once was.
5. Kevin Rutland--cornerback--Missouri - Improved more than any defender on the Tiger's defense last season. Ran well at the combine & he can stick in the NFL.
Last but not least, there is some speculation Terrelle Pryor may not qualify for the NFL's supplemental draft. Why you ask? The supplemental draft was established for players who have seen their circumstances change since the regular draft has concluded. The three qualifiers for being a part of this draft include academic ineligibility, kicked off the team or graduation & a desire to leave school. None of those apply to Pryor. He left of his own volition, quit the team. He didn't graduate. The league said yesterday "a player can use the supplemental draft if his status has changed in an unforeseen way. It is not a mechanism for bypassing the regular draft." NFL vice president of player personnel & football operations, Joel Bussert, will rule on Pryor's eligibility. If he gets left out, expect a lawsuit against the league from Pryor because the bottom line is he should be able to do whatever it is he wants to do, it's always been about him.
I had a severe senior moment Friday afternoon. After grabbing some much needed shut-eye, I got back on here to see if there were anymore emails or comments I should deal with. I got spammed from the third world, like 15 of them. When I went to delete them & I missed the mark, I accidentally deleted every single comment in the history of this site. Yes, I'm very proud to be so clueless at times. For all of the people who sent in comments on Friday, I hope you caught my response before 4PM Central Daylight time when they were essentially vaporized.
If you have any new comments or questions, please leave them at the end of each post or email me at rich@richsfootballreport.com Back later today as breaking news warrants.
Look for the league to be open for business, on a limited basis, within hours of the players' positive vote. By tomorrow teams should be able to begin negotiations with their own UFA's & RFA's. They may also start issuing contract offers to undrafted college free agents. It's been reported that each team has but $75,000 for all undrated free agent signing bonuses. Before they routinely received $5K-$20K for signing. None of these deals can be finalized until the union is re-certified. Players with injury issues should be able to seek help from the teams by tonight.
Teams should be able to begin negotiations with other teams' free agents by week's end. Drafted rookies should be signing this week as well. I don't see a lot of resistance since the new CBA includes a penalty for any drafted player who holds out. Plus the amount each player can make has already been established. The length of the contract is set in stone too, 1st round picks will receive a 4-year contract with a team option in the 5th year. All other rounds will receive four-year deals & undrafted free agents will get three-year contracts. The only wiggle room is establishing how much of the signing bonus is to be guaranteed. The final piece of the player personnel transactions puzzle would be trades. I don't have a firm grasp on when they could be allowed, but expecting it by the weekend would be a reasonable guess.
The league's general managers are about to get busier than they've ever been times ten. The really good ones should excel, the inexperienced or lesser qualified GM's will struggle. This will be multi-tasking taken to a whole new level. We'll quickly be able to identify the guys deserving of the big bucks they're paid.
In other news:
HBO & the NFL has announced there would be no "Hard Knocks" this eason, just too many variables opening training camps.
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was married over the weekend. Patriarch of the Steeler family, Dan Rooney, the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, returned home for the ceremony as did many of Ben's teammates. Even foul-mouth James Harrison attended in spite of some awful comments he made about his QB in a Men's Journal piece released recently.
To reiterate the Chiefs' needs during the free agency period, I told you a few weeks ago nose tackle, inside linebacker, offensive right tackle, wide receiver, running back & defensive end should be examined. Yesterday, in a piece he wrote in The Kansas City Star, Kent Babb agreed, putting right tackle & nose tackle as the top priorities. I'd love to see San Francisco NT Aubrayo Franklin in a Chiefs' uni next season. Ditto ILB Barrett Ruud or even 14-year vet Takeo Spikes(short term answer) to run alongside Derrick Johnson.
Quickly looking at undrafted college free agents, I'll give you 5 players I like, but realistically, none will end up in Kansas City because that's just the way it works.
1. Ian Williams--nose tackle--Notre Dame - If a veteran F/A isn't signed, get another rookie
2. Ryan Jones--cornerback--Northwest Missouri State - One of the very best Division II players in 2010.
3. David Mims--offensive tackle--Virginia Union - mountain of a man, 6' 8" 356, raw but he has the most important asset for an edge blocker, good feet. Total project.
4. Mark Herzlich--linebacker--Boston College - Two years ago he was a first round prospect. Herzlich fought his way back from Ewings Sarcoma, a rare cancer that attacks the legs. His speed is down significantly as well as his flexibility, but the strength, superior football intelligence & that heart of a champion remain. Worth a shot, could eventually get close to where he once was.
5. Kevin Rutland--cornerback--Missouri - Improved more than any defender on the Tiger's defense last season. Ran well at the combine & he can stick in the NFL.
Last but not least, there is some speculation Terrelle Pryor may not qualify for the NFL's supplemental draft. Why you ask? The supplemental draft was established for players who have seen their circumstances change since the regular draft has concluded. The three qualifiers for being a part of this draft include academic ineligibility, kicked off the team or graduation & a desire to leave school. None of those apply to Pryor. He left of his own volition, quit the team. He didn't graduate. The league said yesterday "a player can use the supplemental draft if his status has changed in an unforeseen way. It is not a mechanism for bypassing the regular draft." NFL vice president of player personnel & football operations, Joel Bussert, will rule on Pryor's eligibility. If he gets left out, expect a lawsuit against the league from Pryor because the bottom line is he should be able to do whatever it is he wants to do, it's always been about him.
I had a severe senior moment Friday afternoon. After grabbing some much needed shut-eye, I got back on here to see if there were anymore emails or comments I should deal with. I got spammed from the third world, like 15 of them. When I went to delete them & I missed the mark, I accidentally deleted every single comment in the history of this site. Yes, I'm very proud to be so clueless at times. For all of the people who sent in comments on Friday, I hope you caught my response before 4PM Central Daylight time when they were essentially vaporized.
If you have any new comments or questions, please leave them at the end of each post or email me at rich@richsfootballreport.com Back later today as breaking news warrants.
Being the perpetual sunny optimist, when I saw your note about having deleted every comment in the history of the site, I thought, well, at least you didn't discriminate! That was followed by, well, at least you didn't delete every post in the history of the site! Good stuff, Rich. Thanks for all the work you put into it!
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Had I deleted all the posts, someone would have to put me on suicide watch, over 2 million words in nearly 1 thousand posts, I would have been ill. Thanks for your loyalty, I sincerely appreciate it.
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Rich:
Good job keeping up with all that has been going on. As to deleting the posts, I have had over 200 spams on a given night before and spent hours deleting them all. But, I don't even know how to delete more than one at a time, so I wouldn't have made the same mistake. Anyway, keep up the great work!
Martin
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Thanks Martin, as to deleting all my comments, I have always done them 1 at a time too, except on this occasion. I have a little box at the top that deletes everything & that's what I clicked on. No more whining, we have football again & I'm ready to talk about it.
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