NFL Preseason 2007:

An Early Look As The Camps Get Ready To Open:
There are a number of intriguing story-lines as the teams head into their annual pre-season training camps in the next week or so.

The Perils of Michael Vick: The last time I’d checked the Constitution was still operating, so allow the accused the presumption of innocence until such time as the government can prove its case against him beyond a reasonable doubt. That being said, Vick has already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion before he has even been arraigned. What is certain is that Vick is guilty of gross stupidity. It’s mind-boggling to consider that he signed a $130 million contract extension a couple of years back and exposed himself to the extent of criminal liability as been alleged. It doesn’t make sense. He created a mess not only for himself, but also for his teammates, his employer and the League. The Falcons traded away their backup QB to Houston, with the expectation that Vick would continue running the show. His best bet now would be making himself invisible over the next year while his legal issues are resolved. The NFL Commissioner made everyone’s life a little easier by dis-inviting Vick to Falcons’ camp until the League has time to “study the charges.” That file will go directly to the bottom of the pile.

The Falcons hired a new coach who was going to design a package around Vick’s purported strengths. Over the last 2-3 seasons, Vick has been maddeningly inconsistent, and is a far cry from the elite quarterback he was hyped to be. Now, Coach Petrino has to turn to the highly questionable Joey Harrington, the one-time can’t miss kid whose career has been nothing but a bust to date.

By allowing the team to operate without the clouds that surround him, Vick would be doing everyone a favor. In a 30-second news cycle, if he goes missing for awhile, the celebrity chasers will quickly find themselves another problem child to glom onto. Defending a criminal charge in the public domain is a losing proposition. He would be well served to engage counsel that will zealously represent his interests while flying under the radar. A high-profile, publicity seeking lawyer will not do the trick. To date, there has been no one willing to stand up to Vick to tell him how to behave like a man. He has preferred the company of sycophants and bum-kissing leeches. Guess what, guys? The gravy train’s off the tracks.

Vick’s absence from the Falcons will allow the team more opportunities than challenges. They will now have every opportunity to find a quarterback, run a new offensive scheme and get a fresh start with a new coach. We’ve already seen what Vick can do on a football field. Maybe they can do better with someone else at the controls.

Asante’s Dash For the Cash: Patriots’ camp opens in a few days and it appears a certainty that CB Asante Samuel will be holding out rather than accepting the one-year “franchise tender” of $7 million offered by the team. The Patriots have a reputation for being hard-bargainers. They place a “value” on positions on the football field and will not pay above and beyond. So far this decade, the philosophy has worked pretty well. There aren’t that many ex-Patriots who went on to brighter days elsewhere. OK, Adam Vinitieri got his ring with Indy last year, but kickers are in a special class. Besides, going from an outdoor grass surface from which to kick to indoor artificial turf was a sound business move that’ll prolong his career by a few more years. One cannot seriously argue that players such as Milloy, McGinest and Andruzzi went on to make contributions to championship caliber teams. The Patriots were roundly knocked for allowing Deion Branch to “shoot his way out of town”, and he was a nice player who wanted to be paid as a featured receiver. He’s not a #1 guy, despite the price Seattle was willing to pay.

The Patriots purportedly made a long-term offer to Samuel that included $13 million in guaranteed money. Samuel is supposedly looking for the same kind of deal Nate Clements got from the 49’ers. That’s just not going to happen here. Given the rather brief shelf life of an NFL career, players should demand every dollar they can earn. They’re always one play away from a career-ending injury. But how much is enough? It would be easy to criticize the team if they “low balled” Samuel, but such is not the case. If he accepted the tender, it would amount to a 2000% pay raise. He ought to sign the tender, get his money, shut his mouth and walk at the end of the season.

This is not to dismiss Samuel’s talent or contributions to the team. For years, the team has always been forced to plug holes in the secondary either due to injuries or lack of talent. There were some years where they were able to get away with it. However, in last year’s AFC Championship, we ruefully learned the importance of an effective pass defense (there will be no further mention of that game, not now or going forward).

During the offseason, the Patriots assembled the best team (on paper) in their history. They are expected to win in the double-digits and compete for a Super Bowl. It would be terrible if the loss of a key player hinders them coming down the stretch.

Is 2007 Belichick’s Swan Song in New England? Contract information in Foxboro is guarded more closely than are state secrets, but it would be no surprise if Belichick departs at the end of the year.

How well will the Steelers respond to a new coach? To no one’s surprise, Cowher cashed in his chips for a year until a big opportunity pops up in ’08. Odds are he’ll be in Washington once Coach Gibbs calls it a day. Coach Tomlin will be implementing a Lombardi-style camp in Pittsburgh, and the team should be back in the thick of it this year.

Can the Saints continue progressing? Last year, the team caught lightning in a bottle with Drew Brees under Coach Payton. There were some nice surprises (Marcus Coulston) and the team gave the Town a much-needed source of civic pride. Repeating the trick this year will be a tall order. Sure, they have the most talented running back tandem in McAllister and Bush, but are relatively inexperienced at wide receiver with the loss of Joe Horn.

LJ and KC: Larry Johnson has carried the ball an ungodly amount of times in the past two years, and statistics indicate that degree of wear and tear on the body hastens a player’s career. LJ has threatened to hold out unless he gets the big payday. Who can blame him? Trent Green is gone and Coach Edwards will be looking toward Brodie Croyle and Huard to carry the quarterback load. First off, Edwards should’ve been canned after his disastrous game plan in the Playoff last year against Indy. They had them on the ropes and let the game slip away without taking making any alterations. Second, this is a team on the way down, not up. LJ was used to the point of abuse last year and is on the downside of a brief, albeit brilliant career.

Life After Tuna: Parcells packed it in right about the time the ball slipped through Romo’s fingers. The Cowboys have turned to Wade (Son of Bum) Phillips to restore them to glory. They’ve got a lot of talent, especially on the defensive side of the ball, but they’ve also got TO and the circus atmosphere that comes as part of the package. Phillips is a defensive-oriented coach who has promised to scrap Parcells’ more conservative schemes. There’s no reason why they can’t contend for a title.

Coughlin’s Last Stand? This has to be it for Coughlin and the Giants, win now or see you later. Eli Manning has yet to blossom and Big Blue lost about 50% of its offense with Tiki’s retirement. Things are not looking good down in the Meadowlands.

What Gives, Philly? If McNabb regains his strength and Coach Reid can focus on football, this is a very good team in a highly competitive division. It’s all a question of the quarterback’s health. At RB, they’re in good shape with Westbrook. At receiver, they’ll need to cope with the departure of Donte' Stallworth, but McNabb’s never had a problem finding the open guy. On defense, they need to get more consistent play out of the veterans, but (barring injury) they ought to be in the thick of things throughout the year.

Is This The Year in San Diego? On paper, they are the best collection of talent in the League. They may have been beaten by the Patriots’ experience in the playoffs, but if there’s one preseason “lock” for the playoffs it’s the Chargers. The only problem is with the coaching. O-Coordinator Cam Cameron took the Dolphins’ vacancy and brought along most of his staff. Into the driver’s seat steps long-time coordinator Norv Turner (who’s yet to prove that he’s anything more in his prior head coaching stops). It ought to be an easy ride to the playoffs, but time will tell if they can make it to the top of the rock pile.

Da Bears: The NFC Champs Bears went down to the Super Bowl and fell apart in the rain. This year, one of their defensive stalwarts (The Tank) was fired. Rex Grossman has yet to prove that he’s a big league quarterback, as it was the defense that carried the team to the conference title. This year, he lost one of his best weapons when Thomas Jones was traded to the Jets. Cedric Benson will be called upon as the feature back, and the jury’s still out on whether he can make it through an entire season in good health. Any one of a number of teams came come out of the NFC; the Bears could just as easily go 8-8 as they could make another title run.

J-E-T-S! Coach Mangini had a nice rookie season last year, even beating his mentor. The Jets have a very good football team who will make life very interesting in the AFC East. People assume that the Patriots are going to run away with the division, but the Jets hardly share that sentiment. If Pennington stays healthy, they will be a thorn in everyone’s side all year long.

An Indy Two-Peat? It’s not happening. Sure, Manning will cut through the regular season like a knife through butter, but there have been a number of defections on the defensive side of the ball that will make life difficult come playoffs. Plus, the way that safety Bob Sanders plays (hurling himself into opponents like a guided missile), it’s going to catch up sooner rather than later. The offense alone is powerful enough to propel the team into the playoffs, but (as they demonstrated last year) “it’s defense that wins football games.”

From Last Place To…? Last year, the Raiders were a complete embarrassment to themselves and to the rest of the League. They were rewarded with the first overall pick in the draft and chose LSU’s mobile quarterback JaMarcus Russell. Whether he turns out to be a boom or bust depends on the pieces that King Al builds around him in the next 3-5 years. Al brought in USC’s Lane Kiffin to run the show. He’s had success in the past bringing in and molding young coaches (e.g., Madden), so if the team and the fans are willing to look at this year and next as a complete rebuild (and the team regains their magic touch in selecting the “right” players), there’s every reason to expect that the Raiders will contend once more…in 2010.

“It’s Millen Time” To either put up or shut up. His career as President/GM has largely been a horror show in Detroit, making bad choices on draft day (Rogers, Harrington, et. al) and bad decisions in general. Last year, he found a good coach in Marinelli. There is no quarterback controversy of which to speak. Kitna’s the guy come hell or high water, and they have a very good defensive front. They chose WR Calvin Johnson from Georgia Tech with the expectation he’s going to bring back some of the star power that’s sorely been lacking since Barry Sanders hung ‘em up. If this team fails to go 8-8, it’s time to go in another direction and find a GM who can run a football team.

Quick Hitters: Is Tarvaris Jackson the answer in Minnesota? They passed on a number of good quarterbacks in the draft believing in this kid. Let’s hope Coach Childress guessed correctly.

AZ: Can Coach Whisenhunt turn things around in the desert? Matt Leinart had a pretty good rookie year for the Cardinals, and there’s every hope that his career trajectory will continue to rise. Many are the men who have tried and have failed to turn the Cardinals into a winning team. Edgerrin James has been a big-time bust so far, and they were happy to see the Cowboys take the perennial underachieving Leonard Davis off their hands. Leinart has great weapons in Boldin and Fitzgerald, but once more the O-Line has been rebuilt from scratch, this time with seasoned vets. They have a couple of defensive standouts, but are still young and inexperienced.

As the players make their way to their respective camps all across the ol’ US of A, we will find out the answers to these questions…and many more.