Kaspers Korner

San Diego Chargers starting running back Ladanian Tomlinson has not played in the post season the last several years.  Tomlinson is foolish for refusing to reduce his role.

According to Pro Football Talk.com Tomlinson is refusing to take a pay cut.  The reason being is that he does not want his salary to be lower than back up Darren Sproles who is set to make around $6.6 million this year, because he was franchised tag.

Simply, Tomlison is foolish he has eight years in the league in which he has carried the ball for more than 300 times each year except last year, which was 292.

After that many years in the league a running backs body starts to break down.  Even the great running backs like Thurman Thomas and Emmitt Smith started to break down after eight years.

If Tomlinson is not willing to take a pay cut, then he is going to find himself without a job.

The Indianapolis Colts have a huge problem on their hands.  That problem is replacing the void left by the departure that center Jeff Saturday has created.

Saturday is a free agent come the open of the Free Agency period.  Even at age 33 Saturday will get some offers as he is one of the best centers in the National Football League.

It is mind blowing that Colts President and general manager Bill Polian has let Saturday walk, considering how important a center is to the team.

A center has to be on the same page as the quarterback as he makes all the offensive line blocking calls and has to adjust the blocking scheme accordingly with the play that is audibled to as well as what the defense is running.

Replacing centers can be a very hard thing to do.  Just ask the Buffalo Bills as they have not even found a player close to the caliber of former center Kent Hull who retired in the late 1990’s.

The National Football League’s Scouting Combine is a place that potential prospects can hurt or help themselves.  After tight end Brandon Pettigrew worked out Buffalo Bills fans can forget about him.

Many draft experts were predicting Pettigrew to go to the Bills in the first round before he worked out at the combine.  However, his workout at the Combine is going to change that.

Pettigrew ran the 40 yard dash in 4.87 seconds, which is not very fast for a tight end.  As for the rest of his work out that was also bad as he failed to crack the top four in any of the drills he did for tight ends.

Scouts view him as a blocking tight end first in an underneath pass catching offense, since he is unable to stretch the field with his speed.  Also, he relies on his stregth and athleticism to get a clean release from the line of scrimage.

In the NFL the players are bigger, stronger, and athletic, which means that Pettigrew simply cannot rely on just that to get a clean release in the NFL.

On top of all that Pettigrew has character issues as he was charged with assault and battery of a police officer on January 20th of last year.

Simply, Pettigrew is not going to be drafted by the Bills.  Especially, when they already have the same type of football player in tight end Derek Fine who has no character issues.

Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha signed a three year $45.3 million dollar contract with the Raiders Thursday February 19th, 2009.  Simply, players contracts are getting out of control.

It was only two offseasons ago that the Buffalo Bills signed defensvie end Aaron Schobel to a seven year $49 million contract, which at the time put him as one of the highest paid defensive ends in the National Football League.

Just a mere two years later the contract is looking like an average players salary.

So, what is the solution to the problem?  The solution to the problem is when the Collective Bargaining Agreement ends the owners need to go back to the Designated Gross Revenue formula.

The DGR formula simply meant that certain revenue streams can only count in figuring the salary cap for players salary.

That was done away with in the last CBA talks, which was replaced by total football revenue.  That simply means any sort of money that the team takes in it counts towards the cap.

Ever since this players contracts have gotten out of hand, because some teams have so much money that they will shoot so high to ensure that they get the free agent.

With the old DGR system teams had to be careful, because the salary cap did not raise very much each year.

Simply, it is time to go back to DGR, and if the NFLPA does not understand this, then hopefully current leadership will be shown the door by the players.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were burned in free agency last year, which makes it most likely that their one glaring weakness, the wide receiver position, will be addressed in the draft.  With it being revealed that wide receiver Michael Crabtree has a stress fracture in its foot will the Jaguars take him?

According to ESPN’s Scout Inc. Crabtree is the highest rated overall prospect of the 2009 National Football League draft going into the combine.

The question will be come April are the Jaguars that desperate to get a talented wide receiver that they will take Crabtree even with the stress fracture?

If the Jaguars value Crabtree that much they will have to stay in their spot at number eight to get him, becuase the San Francisco 49ers are at 10 and have a need for a wide receiver with their top receiver being the aging Issac Bruce.

Many people make a big deal of the 40 yard dash time at the Combine.  However, the key to a good wide receiver is the actual running of the route.

The reason is that wide receivers will tip their hand a little too early in their body language.  That was pointed out to Buffalo Bills wide receiver Lee Evans when he was a rookie being mentored by cornerback Troy Vincent, which he then told the media.

A good example of this is fellow Bills wide receiver Josh Reed.  Reed has become a huge part of the Bills offense, because of his precise route running.

The fact is that it is not the skills themselves that make a player, but it is how the player uses those skills on the field.

Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch was charged with three misdemeanors Thursday February 19th.  Now, with Lynch being charged the next move is the Bills.

It would be one thing if the Lynch’s gun was registered, but that is not the case.  With the Plaxico Burress unregistered gun incident there is no benefit of the doubt for Lynch.

As I see it the Bills need to approach Lynch and give him two options.  First, you move your rear, and your family to Buffalo, as well as cut ties to all your old friends.

The second is stay in California we will suspend you for four games on top of whatever Goodell suspends you for.  Then we will sue you for your portion of your signing bonus for this year.

Also, after the season we will trade you to another team.

There is one thing for certain.  With this being his second incident if the Bills do not send a message to Lynch by suspending him on top of what Goodell gives, then all they are doing is telling Lynch that it is okay.

The Combine is underway and one of its dirty little secrets is that agents gauge the interest of teams in his client.  Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini went too far, and should me made an example of.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Mangini commented on soon to be free agent running back Derrick Ward by saying “He’s a guy we’d look at.”  Talking about other players under contract is considered tampering.

The way tampering works is that a team must file charges first.  Then the incident will be investigated.

Simply, that needs to change, especially in this case.

National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell has a chance to send a message in suspending Mangini for a couple of games and taking a draft pick away.

Also, a way for the tampering to stop is to ban agents from the Combine.  For there is no need for them there if their client did his homework before hand.

In the end Browns owner Randy Lerner is going to learn that you do not hire a head coach before a general manager, especially one from the New England Patriots.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith missed most of last season with a reoccurring shoulder problem.  Smith still has a shot at starter with the team as they will give him a chance to win the starting quarterback position in training camp.

There is one hitch to that and that is Smith has to take a pay cut.  General manager Scot McCloughan stated that discussions are on going with Smith’s agent to reduce his base salary in 2009.

Smith did show some signs that he could be something in the league.  In his first full year as a starter Smith threw for 2,890 yards with 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

The question is now is Smith’s arm as good as it was before the injuries, or has it got worst.  If it got worst it could mean the end of his career.

There is a growing trend in the league in regards to older players with higher cap numbers.  That is it does not matter how long you been with the team if you cannot perform up to your contract you are going to be cut.

That is disturbing considering that some of these players actually like to stay with their teams.  However, they left their agents do their contract negotiations.

The fact of the matter is that if a player is going to stay with one team throughout his career he needs to do the same thing as James Farrior.

Farrior realized that his skills were diminishing.  So, instead of trying to milk the Steelers out of every penny he could get he instead has his contract negotiated that makes his contract very salary cap friendly.

The problem is that agents are never going to recommend that to their players.  That means less money for them, and money is the reason thier in the business.

So, if aging veterans want to stay with their team they better wake up and take the Farrior route, or you are going to be on the street.

The Buffalo Bills for many years played the 3-4 defense before head coach Greg Williams came in and changed that.  Now is the time that the Bills should switch over.

The switch is very enticing if you think about it.  To be more exact two reasons.

The first it would eliminate the need for a another defensive tackle, which the Bills are thin at right now.  Hopefully, the Bills new defensive line coach will change that.

Also, there is a player that if the Bills can get a hold of would vault their defense into the top five of the league easily.  That person is Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers.

Peppers is a free agent this year and has expressed that the he wants to move on.  The reason being that he feels that he has not reached his potential in the current 4-3 defense that the Panthers use.

That means he would like to play the outside linebacker position.  Now, the question is there any difference between a 3-4 outside linebacker and a 4-3 defensive end?

Not really for both are responsible for containment of whoever has the ball.  Also, both rush the passer.

The difference is that an outside linebacker has responsibility for coverage sometimes.  It depends on what play the defense runs and the position.  Most 3-4 defenses have one outside linebacker that is a pure pass rusher, which is most likely what Peppers want.

Even if the Bills cannot get Peppers getting a outside linebacker in the first round is a good possibility considering that linebackers as of late have been plentiful.