Though in-season NFL trades are a rarity, four team executives talked to Yahoo! Sports about players they believe should be dealt prior to the deadline next Tuesday.
The executives agreed that the only teams that should really be cleaning house at this point are the Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams. Even though the Houston Texans are 0-4, many observes believe they will rebound and play well. Furthermore, the Texans don’t have many players who should just be dumped, aside from running back Ahman Green.
“And I would only take Green if I was truly desperate,” one of the executive said. “Thank God I’m not in that situation.”
Here’s a list of the top 10 players who should be dealt.
1. RB Larry Johnson, Kansas City Chiefs
Comment: “By the time the Chiefs are good again, he’s going to be done. … I don’t understand why they gave him all the money and then they wouldn’t sign Jared Allen. If you’re rebuilding, you don’t do it with a running back who’s going to be burned.” Another executive said Johnson has a reputation around the league as being a “spoiled brat” and “not much of a leader.”
Best potential fits: He’s not a perfect fit in Philadelphia because of the style of the offense, but all of the executives said the Eagles could use him now that Brian Westbrook has broken ribs. Other teams that could use him would be the Denver Broncos, New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints.
Full article at [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AjAIEPeXrvMFZNKZKuhByYU5nYcB?slug=jc-tradebait100808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns"]http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AjAI...o&type=lgns[/url]
The insanity of employing a professional football player who needs 24-hour protection from his own mental imbalance just reared its ugly little head like Putin over Alaskan airspace.
Adam "Pacman" Jones, according to Dallas police, brawled Wednesday night with one of the four bodyguards Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hired to stop TuPacman from running afoul of the law.
Late hit by Pacman Adam "Pacman" Jones got into a fight with his bodyguard at a Dallas hotel early Wednesday morning, the day before a scheduled team meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. And now the football world watches with bated breath to see how effective Jerry Jones' cleanup crew will be in hushing up witnesses, the bodyguard, police and hotel staff so that the NFL can continue to pretend TuPacman is stable enough to remain a cast member on Jones' reality TV show.
My money is on Jerry Jones. Terence Newman is out for at least the next month and a half with a sports hernia. The NFC East is the most talented and competitive division in football. Jerry Jones believes he can't win the Super Bowl without TuPacman.
The Cowboys will concoct a very elaborate story exonerating TuPacman.
At some point today, I expect the bodyguard to take full responsibility for the scrap and argue that TuPacman was really acting as a peacekeeper. One of TuPacman's attorneys, speaking to an ESPN reporter, stated that he's "not satisfied anything has happened."
Wow, I haven't heard anything that lame since the night I lost my virginity. Hey, that was decades ago. I've improved. I swear!
The police incidents that involve Adam Jones usually end with victims declining to press charges, friends taking responsibility for the drugs or charges being dismissed. TuPacman just happens to have the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time on a consistent basis.
It's just bad luck mixed with a little racial profiling. That's it.
Or maybe it's not. I say that because Jerry Jones purchased four security guards to monitor TuPacman around the clock. I say that because the Cowboys have demanded that TuPacman avoid going to the kind of event that he attended Tuesday night/Wednesday morning at The Joule Hotel in Dallas ? a movie premiere with alcohol, groupies and other celebrity entertainers such as rapper Ludacris.
The Cowboys recognize that TuPacman can't handle the spotlight, the responsibility of stardom and money. TuPacman doesn't know when to say when.
I don't know TuPacman. I don't know Britney Spears, either. But TuPacman and Britney sound like unstable birds of the same feather. They just have different jobs. Britney is paid to lip sync and look sexy while getting as close to publicly naked as the law allows. Adam Jones is paid to do violence on a football field.
Britney and Adam both struggle to stay within their lanes when they're away from work. Britney flashes her crotch, hail damage and bald head. Adam flashes his temper and horrid judgment. Britney might harm herself. Adam might harm someone else.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell would be a fool to allow TuPacman to remain a representative of the league. O.J. Simpson did not harm the NFL brand. Rae Carruth did.
Jerry Jones is probably willing to continue employing off-duty cops to protect TuPacman from himself. Jerry might even retain the bodyguards during the offseason. But we've just been offered evidence that TuPacman will attack his protectors.
Like the Alaskan Airhead, there's little difference between TuPacman and a pit bull. You never know when they'll explode and turn on their owner.
Goodell should intervene on behalf of Jerry and Adam Jones.
If a grown man or woman needs 24-hour surveillance, it's an indication they're the president of the United States, incarcerated or dangerously unstable. Of the three, there are just two legitimate options for TuPacman Jones.
Goodell needs to give Adam Jones two options: 1. Retire from the NFL and head to the CFL or start a rap career; 2. Enter an intensive, year-round counseling and life-management program and return to the NFL next season.
TuPacman's 2008 season should be over and his NFL career should be finished until he aggressively deals with his demons. The league, Jerry Jones, Deion Sanders, Jim Brown and many others have tried to reach out to Adam Jones and mentor him. He's not interested. He's in denial. He's a ticking bomb. We've seen this before with Lawrence Phillips. We know how this story ends.
This is way too high risk for Jerry Jones and the NFL. What happens if one of Jerry Jones' paid bodyguards has to take significant, potentially lethal action against Adam Jones (or one of his friends) the next time he's enraged?
NAGUA, Dominican Republic -- New York Mets pitcher Ambiorix Burgos will be jailed for three months while awaiting trial for a hit-and-run accident that killed two women.
The 24-year-old reliever told The Associated Press that a Dominican judge ordered him to remain behind bars Wednesday night out of concerns for his safety.
"I am going to come out of this fine because my conscience is clear, and I'm not worried this will affect my career because I haven't done anything," he said in the jailhouse interview.
Burgos is accused of abandoning the victims of the Sept. 30 accident and fleeing, charges that can carry six months to two years in prison. He disappeared after the accident but turned himself in Tuesday.
Prosecutor Raul Quiroz said an investigation could lead to additional charges in the deaths of Angely Fana, 29, and Josefina Minaya, 38. Fana's mother, Eudosia Ruane, has accused Burgos of intentionally running her daughter over because she refused to go out with him.
Witnesses say Burgos was the driver of the Hummer that struck the two women, according to police. But Burgos told AP Wednesday night he was sitting in the back seat of the truck, with his cousin at the wheel.
Burgos, who arrived at a packed courthouse under heavy security, said many people in this town are jealous of him and "exaggerate things" because he is the only Major League Baseball pitcher from Nagua.
"My son is innocent," Pablo Burgos said. "The issue is that here in Nagua there are a lot of people who want to hurt him."
Despite the order from judge Nicolasa Sabala, Burgos said he was confident he would get out of jail in time for an Oct. 23 court date in New York, where he faces assault and harassment charges for allegedly throwing his girlfriend to the ground.
"I'll get out of here soon, and I'll also clear up what happened in New York," he said.
Burgos also faces an unrelated charge of illegal weapon possession and had recently been released after posting a $3,000 bond.
Burgos spent the past season on the disabled list following elbow ligament replacement surgery. He pitched in the minors last month while on a rehabilitation assignment.
Although OSU is undefeated and ranked No. 17 in the country, many say it hasn’t truly been “tested,” yet.
If Saturday night’s nationally televised game at No. 2 Missouri doesn’t qualify as a “test,” then nothing does.
The Cowboys (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) will take on the Tigers (5-0, 1-0) at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
Coach Mike Gundy said Saturday’s game will be the biggest of many of his players’ careers but they need to maintain their composure.
“We’re trying to keep everything within realm, and they need to understand that they need to go out there and just play,” Gundy said.
Quarterback Zac Robinson said the players try to stay calm the week before a big game but the excitement eventually begins to take over.
“When Thursdays come around, you start getting excited about the game,” Robinson said. “We just have to prepare throughout the week, but we are definitely very excited about this game.”
Although the Cowboys and Tigers do not face each other every season, the series has a history of exciting games.
A touchdown or less has decided five of the past six OSU-Missouri matchups.
Three of those five games have gone into overtime, including a triple-overtime 41-38 Missouri victory in 2001 and a double-overtime 51-50 Missouri victory in 1997.
Linebacker Andre Sexton said with both teams entering the game undefeated and ranked in the top 20 nationally, the stakes are even higher for the series.
“I love an opportunity like this going in to play a top five team in their home place,” Sexton said. “With the success we’ve had, it is just an opportunity to showcase how good we really are.
“We are just excited to be in this position to play such a great team and very explosive offense.”
“Explosive offense” might not be a strong enough term to use for either team in Saturday’s game.
Both the Cowboys and Tigers rank among the leaders nationally in several offensive categories.
Oklahoma State is second nationally in rushing offense, while Missouri is third in passing offense.
OSU is sixth nationally in total offense; Missouri third.
The Tigers are second in points scored per game, with the Cowboys right behind them in third.
To counter OSU’s Zac Robinson, who ranks third nationally in passing efficiency, and Big 12 Player of the Week Dez Bryant, Missouri has Heisman candidates Chase Daniel at quarterback and Jeremy Maclin at receiver.
It is clear that the offense will be on full display on Saturday, and Sexton said the team that holds the opposing offense in check might come away with a victory.
“I don’t think you can stop an offense like this,” Sexton said. “I think you just have to slow them down a little bit and try to contain them.
“We just need to get pressure on Chase Daniel by getting in his face and trying to hit him and disrupt him a bit to get him out of his groove.”
OSU will be looking for its first win over a top-five opponent since 2002 when it defeated Oklahoma 38-28 in Stillwater.
Sexton said coming away from Columbia with a victory will not be easy, but it would be a sign the program is moving in the right direction.
“A win would give our fans something to be really excited about,” Sexton said.
“We can’t be sold at 5-0. We have to keep progressing and getting better.”
Rookie left tackle Branden Albert worked in some individual drills at practice and afterward repeated what he had said last week: He would be available to the Chiefs for their next game on Oct. 19 against Tennessee at Arrowhead Stadium.
Coach Herm Edwards wasn’t as optimistic.
“We’re going to see,” Edwards said. “We’ll see if he can still practice. He’s doing some things individually, but we have to put him in team concepts of working. Hopefully next week he can practice, and if he can, that’s a good sign for us.”
Edwards also said Damion McIntosh would probably keep his starting spot at right tackle.
“We’d like to keep those guys together,” Edwards said.
The Chiefs practiced Wednesday and will work again today and Friday before scattering for the weekend.
Players will return Monday to begin preparations for the Titans. This week’s practices are devoted to fixing the many things that have gone wrong in the first five games.
“That’s what you do in the bye week: Go back and look at everything you’ve done on both sides of the ball, especially if you can try to specifically pick out some things that you need to try to improve on,” Edwards said. “So that’s kind of how the practices are put together. In that sense, we’re in a learning, practice mode, trying to really emphasize some of the things we’ve got to do a lot better.”
The day after the Chiefs traded Jared Allen this past April, coach Herm Edwards sat at a table and said he didn?t expect anyone to replace the Pro Bowl defensive end.
Allen?s personality was one thing, but those 15 1/2 sacks were another. It wouldn?t be fair to expect another player to have that kind of year, Edwards said. But he also said that someone would emerge as a reliable, if not dominant, pass rusher. Maybe that player would get to the quarterback 10 or so times, and that was OK with the Chiefs.
Six months later, Kansas City is on pace to finish with fewer than 10 team sacks, far fewer than Allen alone generated last year when he led the NFL. The Chiefs have three sacks in five games, tied with Cincinnati for the league?s lowest total. But the worst part might be that none of the Chiefs? starting defensive linemen has a sack.
?We haven?t gotten there like we?d like to,? Edwards said Tuesday.
Edwards said linebackers Derrick Johnson and Demorrio Williams might be used more frequently as pass rushers. The Chiefs prefer to be conservative in blitzing their linebackers, but it has become clear the defensive front needs help.
Tamba Hali, who replaced Allen at right end, has struggled with lingering knee problems and has been substituted at times in passing situations, usually by Williams.
It?s not what the Chiefs hoped for when they traded Allen, who has two sacks for Minnesota. And although Edwards expected some rough days when he filled the Chiefs? starting line with young players ? all four players have been in the league three years or fewer ? the Chiefs? pass rush is falling far below expectations.
Edwards said the linemen are getting close to quarterbacks, and whether or not that?s good enough, that?s all he has to talk about.
?At times,? Edwards said, ?we got there, but we didn?t sack him. If you hit the guy and disrupt the guy and he can?t throw it on time, that?s almost as good as a sack. If you can make the guy throw quick, you?ve got a chance.?
Hali said during the preseason he wanted double-digit sacks this season or he?d feel he was taking a step backward. He had eight and 7 1/2 sacks in 2006 and ?07, respectively, and Hali didn?t want to think he might be regressing. But he also acknowledged that moving to right end might be more difficult than he?d like. He?d be facing each team?s best pass blocker and frequent double-teams. Still, Hali said double-digit sacks would be his barometer for success this season.
Edwards said it?s too early to think Hali can?t handle the right side. The coach said Hali?s knee problems have slowed him the last three games, and some time off is crucial for the third-year end.
?This bye week comes at a good time for him,? Edwards said. ?We can get him back healthy. That?ll help us.?
In the meantime, the Chiefs will keep relying on linebackers to pick up the line?s slack. Johnson has two of Kansas City?s three sacks, and backup defensive end Alfonso Boone has the other. Turk McBride had three sacks in preseason games, but he hasn?t been a force during the regular season. The Chiefs? tackles, Glenn Dorsey and Tank Tyler, are run stoppers and aren?t counted on for many sacks ? although Kansas City would take sacks from any position at this point.
Edwards said linebackers would blitz more often as it becomes more painfully apparent the linemen can?t get into the backfield. That would mean taking Johnson and Williams out of their regular assignments. It also would mean gambling that the Chiefs? young secondary can continue protecting the defense when Edwards and coordinator Gunther Cunningham gamble on a blitz.
Edwards said Tuesday that the secondary has played well so far, allowing some catches but preventing most deep completions. That secondary, which includes rookie cornerbacks Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr, has kept the Chiefs close in at least two of the games, Edwards said.
But the coach admitted that expecting those young corners to be consistently flawless, especially while the defensive front struggles, would be unfair ? as unfair as expecting one of those linemen to become the next Jared Allen.
?It puts a lot of burden on them,? Edwards said. ?They?re doing a good job. For us not sacking the quarterback a lot, they?ve done pretty well. It?s a true testament to them when you think about it.?
Whether the Chiefs want to think about it or not, those youngsters might be tested often, at least until the defensive line solves its problems.
The Chiefs went through a 90-minute practice outdoors on a spectacular fall morning on Wednesday.
This time was spent on themselves, which is what the Chiefs will do in their three bye week practices.
?You try to specifically try to pick out things you need to improve on and that?s how are practices are put together,? Herm Edwards said.
The areas of improvement Edwads highlighted were on offense, stopping the three and outs, being more consistent with the running game and dialing up some big plays in the passing game. On defense, he mentioned a need to improve third down defense and eliminate the big plays.
Edwards said there were no personnel changes planned for this week or next. ?The more they play the more they will gain some confidence,? Edwards said of his young roster. ?We are at the point now, after five games, they?ve got to feel like they know what it takes. They need to continue to prepare. That?s the whole thing now, teaching them how to prepare each week with a great focus.?
The Chiefs will not begin working on preparation for the Tennessee Titans until next week, although the coaches will begin film study over the weekend.
LT Branden Albert did some individual stuff during the practice but will not work with the offense at all this week. Edwards said they hoped to have him back next week, but only time and his right elbow will decided that. LB Donnie Edwards was at practice but he continues to rehab his sprained right ankle and did not take part in workout.
As expected, Brodie Croyle took most of the snaps with the first team offense.
