by Joe Tailgate on February 23, 2010
in NFL News
The Panthers have until this Thursday to place the franchise tag on defensive end Julius Peppers. A source in the organization has indicated to Newschannel 36 that Peppers is finished with the team, and they will not pony up the twenty million plus that would be required to keep him for another year under the tag allowing him to test the open market as an unrestricted free agent.
Things could get rough for Peppers. Peter King tweets “Had an NFL exec tell me this weekend he thought Peppers would be lucky to get $10m a year in this climate.”
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by Joe Tailgate on August 21, 2009
in NFL News
The Falcons unveiled Thursday the throwback jerseys they will wear for two games this season. The Falcons will wear them when they play host to the defending NFC South champion Carolina Panthers on Sept. 20. They will wear them again when Tampa Bay comes to the Georgia Dome on Nov. 29.
Bears RB Matt Forte likely will get at least half a dozen carries Saturday night when the Bears host the Giants at Soldier Field. “He needs to get some work,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner.
Eagles coach Andy Reid left open the possibility last night that Michael Vick would play in the team’s third exhibition game next week, but he would not guarantee it. “He had a good week of work,” Reid said. “He got a good workout in today. We’ll see how he does next week. We’re shooting for the third game. We’ll see. We’ve just got to get a feel on him throughout the week.” [click to continue…]
by Joe Tailgate on August 19, 2009
in NFL News
by Joe Tailgate on July 6, 2009
in NFL News
At the NFL Rookie Symposium in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Lions rookie QB Matthew Stafford told CBSSports.com in an exclusive interview that his new team’s offense is familiar to him.
“Coming from Georgia, we do a lot of the same concepts with [offensive coordinator Scott] Linehan that we did there,” Stafford said. “It’s obviously called something completely different and you may look for a different look for certain coverages, but a lot of the concepts are similar, so it’s been a pretty easy transition for me so far.”
Before and after the draft, the Lions talked about adding a veteran backup because they weren’t sure how quickly Stafford would be ready. They didn’t want to get into a situation where Daunte Culpepper would start the season and then get hurt and then be forced to go with a raw rookie. That situation has changed. The Lions are now very confident that Stafford will be ready for the start of the regular season.
The Lions’ offensive line is under scrutiny again. Center Dominic Raiola knows it, and so does right tackle Gosder Cherilus. They are two of the key figures on the line and both believe the OL will be improved.
“We feel like we got good people around us,” Cherilus said. “We are playing well together. We understand each other and once we start playing (games), the sky is the limit. I love what we are doing. I am excited. I can’t wait to start hitting somebody.”
Caleb Campbell’s NFL career may be on hold, but he is now training with the United States bobsled team in hopes of making the 2010 Olympics. He had never been in a bobsled prior to the start of his training, so it would be pretty remarkable if he actually is able to make the Olympics.
