Tag Archives: NFL

The NFL Draft is roughly two weeks away and the teams in the NFC East have holes to fill. Each team will be looking to fix these weaknesses via the draft or trade, so here are a few areas of need that they will likely pursue.

Cowboys:

Offensive Guard/Center – The Cowboys became more athletic at the tackle spot last season by drafting Tyron Smith and the unit can still use an upgrade. The interior of the Cowboys line looked out matched last season by more athletic interior lineman. Both the Eagles and Giants had success pressuring the Cowboys up the middle using line stunts or a blitz.

Cornerback – The Cowboys recently released Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins was often injured during games last season. Rob Ryan needs a play maker in the secondary and the Cowboys are in a prime position to draft either the #2/3 cornerback or the #1 safety on the board.

Outside Linebacker – DeMarcus Ware is obviously one of the top 5 defensive players in the NFL, but across from him Anthony Spencer has been regressing each season. The Cowboys have to be able to play on the other side of the line of scrimmage if they want to be successful in this Rob Ryan style of defense.

Defensive End – Defensive end isn’t the most glamorous position in the 3-4 defense but the Cowboys could use some youth at the position. They have been relying on a veteran rotation at the two spots and never really had a true run stopper at either one.

Giants:

Offensive Tackle – The Giants decided to not bring back RT Kareem McKenzie and David Diehl is more suited for the right side at this point of his career. The Giants could use a legit Left Tackle that can learn from Eli and the current veteran lineman.

Tight End – Martellus Bennett is supposed to step in and solve all of the Giants’ problems at this position… I’m not sold on that. He is a gifted athlete, but he has underachieved so far in his career. He was more worried about making rap songs in Dallas than catching passes. A young athletic TE or a converted college B-ball player would be a good project for the Giants to try and develop this season.

Safety – The Giants tried to address their lack of depth at the position by drafting Chad Jones a few seasons ago, but due to his unfortunate accident they are still searching for a true 3rd safety. The Giants really came on strong last season when they ran their hybrid nickel package with 3 safeties on 2nd down and 3rd and short. This allowed the team to add athleticism and hide their biggest weakness which is linebacker.

Osi Umenyiora Trade – Trading Osi is a topic for another article, but it seems as though the Giants are aligning themselves to make this more of a possibility.

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Tagged 2012, cowboys, David Diehl, draft, eagles, East, giants, Kareem McKenzie, NFC, NFL, Osi Umenyiora, redskins, Team Needs, trades |

Saints head coach Sean Payton will be suspended for the entire 2012 NFL season beginning April 16.

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From the NFL….The New Orleans Saints, along with General Manager Mickey Loomis, Head Coach Sean Payton, and Assistant Head Coach Joe Vitt, were notified today that after careful consideration of their appeals, Commissioner Roger Goodell has upheld the discipline that was imposed for continuing violations of the league’s anti-bounty rule that endangered player safety over a three-year period.

The club and the individuals will be expected to cooperate in any further proceedings and to assist in the development and implementation of programs to instruct players and coaches at all levels on principles of player safety, fair play, and sportsmanship.

If they embrace the opportunity and participate in a constructive way, Commissioner Goodell said he would consider mitigating the financial penalties on the individuals. In the case of the team, the commissioner would consider whether there are factors that would support modifying the forfeiture of the team’s 2013 second-round draft choice.

Sean Payton’s suspension without pay for the 2012 NFL season will begin on April 16.

The suspensions without pay of Mickey Loomis for eight games and Joe Vitt for six games will begin at the end of the preseason.

At the conclusion of their suspensions, the commissioner will review the status of each of the three individuals to determine their eligibility for reinstatement.

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Pro Football Talk: How Can the NFL Enforce the Suspensions?

Tagged Bounty-gate, New Orleans Saints, NFL |

Former Giants MLB Antonio Pierce played for the now-banned DC Gregg Williams as a member of the Washington Redskins in 2004. He knows Williams, his tactics and pretty much why his former coach is suddenly an ex-employee of the NFL, probably for good.

“I’ve heard that speech from seven of the defensive coordinators I’ve played with in my nine-year career,” Pierce the New York Daily News this week. “Think about it, if a guy knows he’s going to get hit hard, he’s not going to come across that middle.”

In addition, Pierce said players always know who’s hurt. Heck, all they have to do is pick up the paper and read the injury report….

“Throughout the week we always knew who was injured and what body part was injured…….If he’s not in the game, our chances of winning are higher. And that’s what it’s all about. It’s all about winning.”

Rachel Nichols of ESPN sat down with Pierce recently….

Tagged Antonio Pierce, Bounty-gate, New York Giants News, NFL |

Greetings from NYC, where Spring has sprung again. Three weeks from now we will be at the NFL Draft, where the Giants will be at the back of the line waiting their turn – or as I like to put it – waiting for someone to make a mistake. Here is what is happening….

The NFL released it’s 2012 Preseason schedule yesterday. The Giants will play the Jaguars and Jets away and the Bears and Patriots at home:

• Week One (Aug 9-13) – Giants at Jacksonville (TBA)
• Week Two (Aug 16-20) – Giants at Jets (TBA)
• Week Three – Fri Aug 24 – Chicago at Giants CBS (8:00 PM)
• Week Four – Wed Aug 29 – New England at Giants (Kickoff TBA)

This schedule guarantees the Giants will not have to travel for an entire month (at the least) since they open at home Sept 5 vs the Cowboys. Its nice to be the king once in awhile…

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TE Travis Beckum, perhaps feeling the pressure of the Martellus Bennett signing and the possibility of the Giants replacing him with draft choice, has announced that he could be ready for the season,  just seven months after undergoing ACL surgery…..READ 

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DE Dave Tollefson has been roaming the continent seeking a new team, but has yet be offered a contract. He’s visited the Raiders, Seahawks and Packers thus far and now the Titans are reportedly showing some interest. He may be asking too much salary-wise. The Giants don’t seem to have room for him, but could make some if the price is right…

Tagged New York Giants News, NFL |

Mike Garafolo, our Giants Insider from the Newark Star-Ledger, caught up with Dallas Cowboys’ TE Jason Witten at the Nike NFL Uniform Launch in Brooklyn yesterday.

Witten spoke about his former teammate and understudy, Martellus Bennett, who signed a one-year deal with the Giants last month. Bennett was a former second-round pick of Dallas and his career stalled behind Witten, who is one of the game’s best tight ends.

“I think his confidence was probably shaken a little bit in Dallas.” Witten said. “Few plays, his numbers were limited, so I’m sure that’s a part of it.”

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Tagged Dallas Cowboys, martellus bennett, New York Giants, NFL |

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The Bountygate situation is far from over. The New Orleans Saints are appealing the ruling by Commissioner Roger Goodell, but to what avail is to be determined this week in New York.

A new wrinkle in the story has possible criminal charges being brought against the offenders. This will open a new – and very ugly – door in this case. Goodell met the media yesterday in NYC….

On how suspended Saints personnel’s appeal will differ from recent conversations on the bounty-rule violation:

That is what we will have to wait and hear. They have chosen to appeal. We will listen and see if there is any information that I wasn’t aware of when we met the two previous times. If there is, we will take that into consideration.

On rendering a decision:

I promised them all that it would be an expedited hearing and an expedited decision.

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Tagged Bounty-gate, NFL, Roger Goodell |

As if Lin-sanity wasn’t overhyped enough, here comes Tim-sanity.

Or, if you prefer, Tebowmania. Whatever it’s labeled and however it’s packaged, there’s a good chance that the New York Jets’ latest attempt to make a big splash will once again result in New York’s second-class football team ending up all wet.

Until the Jets finally end their 43-year-old drought and reach another Super Bowl – let alone win one, or even multiple National Football League titles, like their MetLife Stadium co-tenants, the New York Giants – they’ll continue to suffer from their unmanageable inferiority complex.

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Tagged New York City, New York Giants, New York Jets, NFL |

A new Giants-only radio program: Giants Rush will make it’s debut tonight on Blog Talk Radio at 9pm.

GFB’s John Fennelly and Rich Resch will be joined by Bleacher Report’s Craig Santucci and Dr. Bill Chachkes of Football Reporters Online to discuss all the latest Giants news, happenings and rumors.

CLICK HERE FOR THE SHOW PAGE

 

Tagged Blog Talk Radio, New York Giants, New York Giants Audio, NFL |

There’s no question any longer who is the boss of the NFL, the world’s largest and most profitable sports enterprise….from the NFL:

Commissioner Roger Goodell opened the NFL Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, FL today with a presentation to team owners, general managers, coaches and staff.

The hour-long session, which included remarks from executives in numerous departments, briefly looked back at the successful 2011 season, capped off by the most-watched Super Bowl in history.

The focus of the session, however, was on the future, continuing to improve, and taking on new challenges. “We will face our challenges with the same approach that led to our success last season. We will embrace them, we will prepare and we will be unified. We can never take our success for granted,” said Goodell. “Like every one of your teams, we start over. It’s a new season. Everyone is 0-0. And everyone is coming after us. We are going to have our ups and downs. That’s reality. It is not just what we do but how we do it. What we do echoes far beyond the NFL.”

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Tagged NFL, NFL League Meetings, Roger Goodell |

Monday was supposed to be quiet, but it wasn’t. The owners meeting being held in Palm Beach at the Breakers was a apropos setting. News was breaking everywhere…

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The NFL announced the compensatory selections for the upcoming draft. The Giants were awarded a 4th round pick (#131 overall). READ 

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Giants’ GM Jerry Reese appeared on SiriusXM Radio yesterday…..“There’s still some things to do in free agency for us I think,” Reese said. “We’ve just got to kind of slow-play it and see who’s out there and what’s available for us and what our needs are…”

He also said if the season started tomorrow, he doesn’t know who the MLB would be….“If we had to play tomorrow at mike ‘backer, I’m not sure…We have some young players that we think can step in and do the job……Obviously (Mark) Herzlich is a guy we like. We like Greg Jones. There are two young kids that played a lot for us last year until Mark got hurt. Boley….we have linebackers”. READ 

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Former Giant WR Steve Smith signed a one year deal with the St.Louis Rams (READ) 

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The Cowboys and Redskins have filed a grievance with the NFL and NFLPA in a challenge to the combined $46 million the the league office has stripped from their salary caps for the 2012 season. (READ) 

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Bill Parcells has been approached to take over the coaching reins in New Orleans….(READ) 

 

Tagged Jerry Reese, New York Giants, New York Giants News, NFL | ← Older postsNewer posts →