Kaspers Korner

The Cleveland Browns have traded away all their picks for veteran players, and a possible quarterback of the future.  The question now is will the Browns pay for it?

The traded up to get Brady Quinn last year giving the Dallas Cowboys their first round pick this year.  Quinn was one of the best talents in last years draft, and to get him at a reduced price was a bargain. 

However, Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm is thought of to be just as good, but dropped due to a not so great season from his team.  Also, Brohm would cost just as much as.  So, the move in the end was a dumb one.  They gave up a second round pick that they could of used on a need, because they were impatient.

Also, the Browns gave up their second round pick for defensive tackle Corey Williams, and their third rounder for defensive tackle Shuan Rodgers.  To get Williams is one thing, but to also get Rodgers is just plain excessive.

First the Browns run a 3-4 defense, and really need only one defensive tackle.  Secondly, Rodgers is a huge risk to take.  Rodgers was inconsistent in Detroit, eventhough he made the pro bowl.  Also, lets face it outside of wide receiver Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson who would you really want to trade for on the Lions.

In the end the one good move they made was on Williams.  The other move they will pay for.  You do not give up draft picks up just the want the Browns have.  To do what they did they passed on younger cheaper playes for high priced veterans.

You think after Courtney Brown, and Tim Couch they would be wiser on how they approach building their football team.  However, that is not the case, and down the road the Browns will be in salary cap jail for a long time if these moves do not pan out.

If I were you Browns fans I would prepare for the worst, especailly after these comments by ESPN radio’s Colin Cowherd, “I’m surprised they wouldn’t be willing to part with him for a high pick. I covered Anderson in high school and college and I’m not sure he has the moxie to handle taking a team to the next level. I’m not sold on DA. There’s a little ‘fool’s gold’ quality to him. The Browns are relying heavily on him duplicating his performance from last season, but he was not the same quarterback in the last five games. The league started getting the goods on him and figuring him out. Besides, the Browns’ schedule will be a lot harder, and Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cincinnati will all be better.”

That is not good news at all for Browns fans.  Drew Bledsoe went through that with the Bills.  In his first season the first half of it was spectacular.  Then in the second half of the season he struggled as teams caught on. After that Bledsoe just plain stunk.

Beware Browns fans beware, because you could be in for a bumpy ride.

The Chicago Bears made a major investment in giving a new contract to linebacker Lance Briggs this offseason.  Before not even playing a down the Bears could be burned as Briggs has to answer to a judge on June 19th.

Briggs was put on probation last year for fleeing the scene of an accident when he crashed it, and then reported it stolen.  Briggs has to appear before the judge, because for one he left the state without the judges permission, when he was suppose to ask for it to leave. Secondly, Briggs has only completed two hours of court ordered 120 hours of community service.

This is not good news at all for the Bears. Briggs could serve jail time for the incident.  If that happens then National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell most likely will suspend him.  Goodell could suspend Briggs just for not following judes orders, even if Briggs does not serve any jail time.  That is if Goodell wants to make an example out of him.

In any case the way Briggs is handling things off the field it is only a matter of time before he is suspended.  After all, this is the guy who crashed his car, and then fled the scene of an accident.  That clearly shows Briggs is not good at exercising good judgement.

At this point all the Bears can do is sit back, and see what happens with Briggs.  They just signed him, and now they are stuck with him for a while. 

It definetly will be intersting to see what happens next in this story.

It is not just rumour anymore the New Orleans Saints want a defensive tackle in this upcoming draft.  The only question is will they get one.

There are two defensive tackles projected to be picked in the top ten.  Them being LSU’s Glenn Dorsey, and USC’s Sedrick Ellis.  Either of them would help them.  The only question is that can they get one of them.

The big problem is that the Saints have to deal with the Cincinatti Bengals, who are also rumoured to want a defensive tackle.  The obvious answer is that the Saints have to trade up for one of them.

The Saints did put on the table an a trade offer to the Saint Louis Rams, and the Atlanta Falcons, but those two teams will most likely not budge from their positions.  Nor, is the Oakland Raiders who are targeting supposively defensive end Vernon Gholston, or running back Darren McFadden.

The likely candidates are the Kansas City Cheifs, and the New York Jets.  Both of them can get the guy that they want at a later position.  The Cheifs want an offensive lineman, and the Jets want McFadden.

So, as the story goes with the draft you have to wait till saturday to find out what will happen.

The Atlanta Falcons have been rumoured to want defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.  With the Miami Dolphins coming to terms with tackle Jake Long.  With that news the Falcons are now sweating bullets over what the Rams are going to do.

The guy that the Falcons want is so close that they can almost taste it.  However, the Rams are on the clock, and have several options on the table.  What the Rams will do nobody will know, until National Football League commisioner Roger Goodell is at the podium.

If the Falcons want Dorsey, and do not get them, then they have a ligitament reason to be mad at the NFL.  The NFL has told the Rams that they cannot enter into contract negotiations with the prospects that they are considering signing. 

What the Rams could have done is this.  They could of went to their first choice, and told them that they have a certain amount of time to take their deal, and if the prospect does not then they move on.  Or, they could have made offers to multiple prospects, and take the guy who blinks first.  In any case the Falcons have a good chance that they could get Dorsey.

However, this is the Falcons and nobody know what is going on over there right now.  With new general manager Tom Dimtroff running the show, and being a former New England Patriot front office man, nobody is going to know who they covet the most.  That is until they make their pick.

The New York Jets have already spent a huge amount of money on defensive, and offensive lineman.  Now, the Jets are rumoured to want a nice new shiny accesory in Arkansas running back Darren McFadden to go with it.

The Jets are rumoured to be very high on him to the point that they had him in town three times I read some where. Sorry, forgot where that happens from time to time, since I had my bell rung one to many times during high school football.  The Jets taking McFadden would only help the rest of the AFC East.

They simply do not need a running back, and should go for someone on defense, especially since they traded Johnathan Vilma to the New Orleans Saints.  To select some of the likes of McFadden is just a waste of their time.

It is one thing to do something like the Buffalo Bills did when they select running back Willis McGahee.  The Bills were going to take defensive end Chris Kelsay if McGahee was not there.  The Bills got lucky, and also got Kelsay in the second round.

However, the Jets are at the top of the first round, and will be handing out a lot of money to its draft pick as well.  What they need to do is fill a need, while at the same time getting a superstar.  However, it is the Jets, and there is a reason why they have not been to the Super Bowl since Super Bowl III.  

That being they are just plain dumb.  After all we are talking about the team that in the 1983 draft passed on picking Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino in favor of quarterback Ken O’Brien. 

The Arizona Cardinals signed wide reciver Larry Fitzgerald to four year $40 million dollar extension.  Now, wider receiver Anquan Boldin is asking to be payed or traded.

Fitzgerald was an exception, becuase he had so high of a cap figure that the Cardinals had to rework his deal just so they can resign some other players of their own.  Since, his numbers were so high they were not able to do anything till they reworked his deal.

Boldin on the other hand does not make as much money, and is signed through 2010.  For him to ask for more money, considering that that Cardinals had to redo a deal just so they can have some money to sign their own players, and draft picks, is absolutely stupifying.  Like they really have anymoney to pay him.

The fact is that he should keep his mouth shut, and just play.  If he was to do that then the Cardinals would be more likely to pay him, or trade him, since he would have only one year left.  Then Boldin will have a big pay day.  However,  if he was to be a pain in the rear all season long most teams would be leary of giving him a big pay day.

With the Cardinals refusing to pay him or trade him Boldin just needs to shut up, and play.  After all good things come to those who wait.

As the offseason started the stream of negative news flooded in.  Finally, the Bengals have something good to talk about as the league reinstated linebacker Odell Thurman.

Thurman suspension was two years long, which is unusual for a violation of the substance abuse policy.  Third time offenders get usually a one year suspension, but with the new Personal Conduct Policy being installed last year it took longer.

The big thing is that Thurman is a recovering alcoholic, and with the reinstatment it is a sign that he is doing well with his recovery.  Hopefully Thurman will realize that it is not a matter of when he falls of the wagon it is matter of getting right back on, and staying on as long as possible again.

Turman is talented, and it is always gut wrenching to see someone this talented to fall a victim to that.  However, we are all different, and react differently to everything.

Hopefully Thurman can keep his act together for himself, and his families sake.

Many thought that teams in the top five would not be able to trade down.  However, that is not the case as the New Orleans Saints has made an offer to the Saint Louis Rams for the number two spot.

The Rams obviously have many holes to fill on their team. However, many feel that the fall is to big for the Rams to take as the Saints hold the tenth pick in the first round.

The Rams would be foolish not to take the offer from the Rams.  Exactly what the Saints offered to move up is not clear.  Speculation is a first rounder next year, and probably something this year.  The draft is not that deep, except for tackles, which is what the Rams want according to the Saint Louis Post dispatch.

What the Rams fail to realize is that it is not about the talent it is about the money.  The Rams would have to spend considerably less, which means that they would have a lot more money to resign their own players.

Why do you think that the Patriots have been at the top for almost a decade.  The secret is that they do not tie up a lot of money in just one player.

 The last trade two trades within the top five were four and five years ago in 2004 and 2003.  In 2004 the Giants and Chargers swapped quarterbacks.  Then in 2003 the Jets traded up to get Dwayne Robertson.

If they do not pull of this trade then the characters Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels played in the “Movie Dumb and Dumber”.

The New England Patriots have a top ten pick thanks to a trade that happened in last years draft.  The question is now will there be a war between the Patriots and the New York Jets come draft day. 

The New York Jets hold the sixth pick in the first round, and the Patriots the seventh.  The last time that happened, acccording to SI.com, both teams had their eyes on tackle Matt Light in the second round.  The Patriots were worried they would take Light, and called to ask if any other team has called him.  He responded yes the Jets, and the Patriots immediately worked the phones to trade up to take Light.

What would prompt such a scenario to happen again?  That would be defensive end Vernon Gholston, who is thought of to be a outside linebacker in the National Football League. 

Gholston is thought of to be one of the best defensive players in the draft.  With the way the way the draft is shaping up Gholston could be there at number five, or not.  One thing is for sure Kansas City Cheifs president and general manager Carl Peterson will be willing. 

Many people will be watching to see the drama unfold this weekend to see if the Patriots can make themselves that much more better.

It is no secret that the Detroit Lions always will be losers as long as Matt Millen is general manager.  Just as Millen is trying to repair his reputation another example of why the Lions will be losers under his direction.

In an article on MLive.com it has been revealed that wide receiver Calvin Johnson played most of last year with deep bone bruise in his back.  Johnson suffered the injury in the third game of the year against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Then-offensive coordinator Mike “Martz couldn’t stand the fact that I wasn’t practicing,” Johnson said. “When I first got hurt, that Wednesday I was out there in my sweats watching practice and he told me to go run. I said, ‘I can’t run.’ I couldn’t even walk fast. I was thinking, ‘Why are you telling me to run?’ ”

When I saw this paragraph on MLive I could not believe what I was reading.  That is probably one of the most stupid things to do.  He shoud of consulted the medical staff as to how much time he will need to rest.

“He stayed hurt because he kept landing on it,” Lions trainer Al Bellamy said. “It kept lingering.”

You think that at some point the staff, and the coaches, would tell Johnson to sit down, since it was not getting any better.  Usually, playing with injuries makes things worst for the rest of the body as the rest of the body compensates for the injury.  This usually leads to further injury.

The back is not something to mess with.  Johnson might now have problems the rest of his life, because of the Lions stupidity.  Once, a back starts to have problems that player will never be the same, and that just might happen now.

What the news really reveals is the ineptitude, and the lack of communication, within the organization.  Millen is ultimately the person responsible for hiring of the employees.  He is also responsible for everyone communicating with each other in the organization.

Still to this day Johnson is still feeling discomfort from the pain.  Bellamy stated that Johnson should be 100 percent by training camp.  However, do not be surprised if Johnson suffers from back spasms, and other back injuries the rest of his career.