Day: March 2, 2011

Signing Mankins becomes vital for Pats

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One of the more important things that the New England Patriots have to get done is signing guard Logan Mankins to a long term contract.

Well that just became vital on Wednesday.

According to ESPNBoston, via Pro Football Talk, The reason is that Patriots guard Stephen Neal has announced his retirement. That now leaves a big hole for the Patriots to fill with his departure.

Last year Neal missed half the season with a shoulder injury and contemplated retirement before the season started. So, it was a no brainer to him to call it quits this year.

Fortunately, the Patriots have an addition first round pick in April’s upcoming NFL Draft from the Richard Seymour trade last year right before the season.

In the end, as long as the Patriots get Mankins signed they will be fine.

Bills will bring in Hawk

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The Green Bay Packers cut middle linebacker A.J. Hawk due to his salary being a guaranteed $10.5 million on the first day of the National Football League year.

With the Buffalo Bills in need of linebacker help you can expect the team to bring in Hawk.

Bills general manager went on the record stating in a interview on WEDG here in Buffalo, via BuffaloBills.com, that they bring in a lot of players to make sure they don’t miss anyone that could be a solid player for the next several years.

The first immediate appealing factor in signing Hawk is that the Packers play a 3-4 defense as well. Also, Hawk just turned 27 in January, along with appearing in every game of his career. So, it is very possible that his best years are possibly still to come.

Before last season people were starting to think that Hawk was a bust as in 2008 he recorded only 86 total tackles and in 2009 he recorded 89 total tackles in 14 starts. However, in 2010 he rebounded by recording 111 tackles.

The big question is what is his asking price? For if it is anywhere near the $10 million there is a good possibility the Bills just might pass on it.

In the end, Hawk would fit nice with Bills middle linebacker Paul Posluszny.

Doty ruling means nothing

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Many people in the media are making the ruling on the lockout insurance case a big deal.

The fact is judge David Doty’s ruling means nothing.

Many people think that National Football League owners won’t have anything to rely on, besides their own money, to pay the bills while a lockout is going on.

However, what people don’t realize is that teams take loans out to help pay signing and other bonuses, along with other stuff.

Also, the lockout insurance money that was in television deals was really a loan that they had to pay back. That was by reducing the amount television companies had to pay per a year.

So, what do you think teams will do? They will go out to the lenders they usually use and get a loan out to pay the bills with the payments deferred.

In the end, some people still just don’t look past the surface.