Haynesworth Is a Wealthy, Wealthy Man

$115 million for a DT whose only two years of production were contract years? Roll of the dice, no doubt.

Almost as risky as, say, $56 million for a cornerback who was cut midseason last year...

The Fan Gets Smelly at Midnight

The proverbial dookie hits the fan tonight at midnight when free agency opens. Be prepared to wake up to a much different NFL landscape, as teams spend money like government in the wee hours of free agency.

Of course, teams would never speak to potential additions before midnight tonight. That would be tampering.

Marvin Harrison is a Free Agent

The Indianapolis Colts released Marvin Harrison this afternoon, which immediately makes the second-most decorated receiver in history an unrestricted free agent.

However, it remains to be seen if there is a market for the 37 year-old pass-catcher whose play has slipped over the past few seasons.

A Kicker Turns in a Hell of a Workout at the Combine

David Beuhler has turned in one of the most impressive workouts so far at the Combine. In addition to running a solid forty-yard dash time of 4.62, Beuhler also put up 25 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, which was better than 27 offensive linemen including top talents such as Eugene Monroe and Michael Oher.

So what, you say? Well, David Beuhler is a kicker from USC. That's right - a placekicker. Not the ideal kicker to shove into a locker.

Well, Nevermind.

Scratch that. The official 40 times for the combine list Johnny Knox's 40 time at 4.32. Darrius Heyward-Bey is atop the leaderboard with a 4.30.

Johnny Knox Runs a 4.25

Several of the most well-known names at the receiver position ran very respectable 40 times today at the combine. However, a no-name prospect has created by far the most buzz.

Abilene-Christian wide receiver Johnny Knox (who?) ran a 4.25, a blazing time by anyone's standards.

So will Johnny Knox be this year's overdrafted flavor based on incredible workouts? Last year, the Cincinnati Bengals drafted little-known Jerome James in the second round after he posted some amazing numbers at the combine, and they didn't see much of a return on their investment in his rookie year.

Either way, it will be interesting to see where Knox is eventually drafted.

The Skill Positions

Today is the day that arguably moves more future salaries around than any other sporting event (and draws more geeky sports viewers than any other event): the skills portion of the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

Which prospects will run well in shorts and shirts and in turn make themselves a LOT of money? Who will run poorly and fall as a consequence? Is there a Vernon Gholston in this year's draft class?

These questions will be answered today. And we'll be watching.

Trash/Treasure Speculation

Free Agency is about to commence and the NFL world is foaming at the mouth for new information this time of year. We're going to post position breakdowns of notable free agents and their potential landing spots, starting with today's post, running backs. Franchised players will not be listed. This year's crop of FA running backs will have to battle against an abundance of young, talented runners around the league and the wide-held belief that teams can find capable runners in the middle parts of the draft.

Running Backs
Fred Taylor: Saints, Broncos, Buccaneers, Cardinals, Texans
Derrick Ward: Browns, Bengals, Patriots,
Maurice Morris: Cardinals, Bengals, Browns, Patriots
Cedric Benson: Bengals, Saints, Cardinals, Browns
Deuce McAlister: Eagles
J.J. Arrington: Bengals, Giants, Broncos

Who Will Bail Out Vick?

With Atlanta Falcons' management declaring the Michael Vick option officially open, immediate speculation has begun as to whom will be crazy or desperate enough to pull the trigger on such a deal. Our immediate reaction was that only two owners would be insane enough to try it: Al Davis and Jerry Jones. Davis, because he has never shown any restraint when it comes to bringing in elite athletes to Oakland, and Jones because his promise to "add some wow" to his offense never materialized.

However, we think there's a far more intriguing opportunity out there.

The Miami Dolphins. That's right - Bill Parcells. Now we know that of the many words that come to mind when someone brings up Michael Vick, "Parcells guy" don't tend to make their way into the conversation all that often. However, Parcells has unprecedented job security after wrangling a new clause in his contract that allows him to leave at any time with the remaining balance due to him. He also has proven in the past to overlook poor habits of elite players (Lawrence Taylor, anyone?) and reportedly promised Maurice Clarett that he would draft him in the 4th round if he were available.

Vick is the perfect player for the Wildcat offense, which the Dolphins employed on many occasions last year, and as such, would not be asked to play quarterback full-time or be the face of the franchise. He'd be asked to come off the bench and add some spark to Miami's offense, sort of like having a superb sixth-man in basketball.

There are many questions that would have to be answered (trade compensation, Vick's contract restructuring, etc.), but as surprised as some might be if Parcells makes such a move, we here at TDB wouldn't be...we'd just go on and on and on about how we called it.

IroNY, NY

The recent connections between the NY Jets and the Miami Dolphins are bringing an unprecedented amount of interest to two teams who, for the past decade, have at best underacheived and at worst sucked.

With the homefry who started all of this business, Brett Favor, retiring, all of these connections are again thrown into sharp relief.

First, the Jets sign a buttload of pricey (maybe overpriceyed?) free agents.
Then they trade for Favre and cut Chad Pennington.
Jets' players quietly bitch about the move, largely because Pennington was well-liked in the locker room.
Pennington is immediately scooped up by Miami due to the glaring hole at QB on their depth chart and the new boss' (Parcells') preference of a game manager behind center.
Week 1 pits these two teams together and they turn in a stellar, nail-biting performance that culminates in Darrelle Revis intercepting a Pennington pass in the end zone with five seconds left to thwart the Dolphins' comeback attempt.
Both teams go on to white-hot starts behind stellar play by their quarterbacks.
The Jets begin to falter down the stretch after starting 8-3, and leaks come out reporting that the Jets' players don't like Favre.
The Jets' season is ended with a Week 17 loss to the Dolphins, who got a great performance and a division title from Chad Pennington (22/30, 200 yds, 2 TD's, 0 INT).
Several Jets' players go Christian Bale on Favre, who immediately goes into hibernation to decide whether or not to hold NY hostage.
The Dolphins fail in the first week of the playoffs.

Interesting tidbit to keep an eye on for the future? Favre has retired, leaving a gaping hole at the QB spot on the NY roster. The Jets have since fired their head coach and replaced him with Rex Ryan, who, as the new boss, prefers a game manager behind center. Pennington is a free-agent and still has plenty of strong relationships in the Jets' locker room.

Looks like the ties between these two division teams will continue for at least as long as Mr. Pennington is employed by one of them.

Check Out Our Team Fixes Page

Check out our Team Fixes page - we'll be adding posts regularly, so check back every now and then to see what we've done as pretend GM of every team in the league.

Haley to the Chiefs; Boldin Next?

Todd Haley has accepted an offer from the Kansas City Chiefs to become their next head coach, Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com is reporting. Glazer broke the news late last night that the Chiefs had offered the job to Haley, and Glazer reported early this morning that Haley indeed accepted. 

So how does this change the Chiefs' philosophy heading forward into the offseason? If Haley is planning on recreating the style and potentness of the Cardinals' offense that he is leaving, Kansas City will undoubtedly target a wide receiver via the draft or trade - which leads us to this question:

Does Anquan Boldin follow his offensive coordinator to Kansas City? Most people would immediately say no, citing Boldin's tirade in the NFC Championship game that was directed at Haley. 

However, Haley is now a first-time head coach and, if he's not already, will soon feel the pressure to perform beyond realistic expectations in order to keep his job. Our guess is that those expectations are more than enough to make Haley attempt to bring an elite weapon like Boldin to KC. On Boldin's end, it never seemed like the coaching structure was the source of his frustration in Arizona; fellow wideout Larry Fitzgerald's contract (which paid Fitz about seven times as much as Boldin in 2008) set things in motion that led to the relationship between Boldin and the Cardinals falling apart.

So if we prove correct (hold your breath), these two guys will voluntarily choose to get back together:

Cassel Has Been Franchised, So Now What?

The Patriots finally franchised Matt Cassel, guaranteeing him at least $14.65 million next year. However, the presence of Tom Brady (and his reportedly on-time recovery) could make things very, very interesting for Mr. Cassel in the next few months, as it is widely expected that New England will entertain offers for Cassel. Expect plenty of teams to be interested his services, as well, as there are very few people on the planet who have proven they can play the quarterback position effectively on the professional level. 

So where will he end up? Let us know where you think (or if you're a Vikings fan, hope) Cassel will be tossing passes next year.

Our guess? Minnesota...oans...ites will be very happy next season.

Who do you think the Lions should pick?

With the un-enviable position of having the pick of the litter of which college kid to give $30 million guaranteed, the Detroit Lions could go in any number of directions with the first overall pick in the draft. Detroit has multiple holes on the roster (really?), so let us know via a comment who they should take.

A Preview of TDB's Team Fixes

The following is a sample of our upcoming feature: The Daily BOMB's 2009 Offseason Team Fixes...

In this segment, we here at TMB break down the current roster situation of each team and what they should do in the offseason via trades, free agents, and of course, the draft. We'll cover each of the 32 franchises in order of patheticness. Starting, obviously, with the...

Detroit Lions 

2008-09 Record: 0-16 (.000%)

Draft Picks: Round 1, Pick 1; Round 1, Pick 20 (from Dallas via the Roy E. Williams trade); R2, Pick 1; R3, 1; R3, 18 (via Dallas); R5, 1; R6, 1; R6, 20 (via Dallas); R7, 1

Roster Strengths: OLB, WR, RB

Roster Holes: QB, CB, OT, OG, DE, FS, SS

What they should do:

The Lions are the first NFL team ever to go 0-16, many of those losses came via blowouts, the front office is in disarray, and there is no quarterback of the future currently on the roster. At first glance, Detroit would seem like a team destined to remain in the cellar for at least a few more years. However, in our estimation, the Lions are far from being the least talented roster in the league. Armed with several returning young, talented players and plenty of prime draft picks, Detroit is a few shrewd moves away from being a very competitive, perhaps even feared, football team not in the distant future, but as soon as next season. Skeptical? Ask all of the teams that chalked up a 'W' against Atlanta in 2008 how that worked out.

Move #1: Trade for Matt Cassel.

Our first move as pretend GM in Detroit? Trading our second 1st round draft pick (20th overall, from Dallas) and our 3rd rounder (or 4th if New England would bite), to the Patriots for a Mr. Matt Cassel. With no quarterbacks in the draft that we deem an immediate solution to our quarterback problem, choosing to trade for our franchise QB in Cassel over rolling the dice by drafting one is not a  difficult decision to make. Not to mention Cassel's prototype build, huge potential, proof of effectiveness, and 4 years studying under one of the greatest QB's of all time. 

So why would Bill Belichick accept this trade offer? Tom Brady is coming back. Belichick values picks over veteran players, especially if he has a capable replacement (in this case, a top 5 all time player at his position in Brady), and this is the draft position that Belichick prefers the most - he doesn't want to overpay like the teams in the top 10, so he gravitates towards the 15 - 25 range in the draft. We agree with Belichick on this philosophy, but we feel like we have the opportunity to really better our team by moving this pick.

So this leaves us holding the first overall pick, fresh off a press conference announcing the new quarterback to lead the Lions out of the wilderness. What do we do next? We protect our investment.

Move #2: Draft....

It's feelin' Drafty in here

Now that the Super Bowl has come and gone, the majority of the college recruiting landscape is mapped out, and the Grey Cup has been handed out (right?), the draft stands alone as a shining beacon of hope for football freaks everywhere (apologies to the Pro Bowl. Actually, screw that - the Pro Bowl sucks). 

Don't go thinking you have to pretend to like baseball for the next few months, young grasshopper, for TheDailyBOMB-san will be providing for you multiple outlets to get your gridiron fix.

We're whittling away at the first official TDB Draft Guide for 2009, which we'll post soon:

Copyright © 2009 www.TheDailyBOMB.blogspot.com

However, more importanty, coming up very soon we'll debut a feature exclusive to our humble blog (exclusive means that you'll only find it at our tiny corner of the Interweb): Team Fixes. What's this 'Team Fixes', you ask? We'll provide a post for every franchise breaking down the moves that we would make if its fanbase was only lucky enough to have us as GM. 

Bash our posts - we welcome your criticism, grasshoppers.