Finding Money

One thing that is consistent in the NFL is the way that players squander their money. Many of them file for bankruptcy after their playing days are over. There are endless stories about players who blow their fortune.

LB Sean Weatherspoon is a great example. Last season he earned $2.35 million while playing for the Arizona Cardinals.

He recently found an uncashed game check from the first week of the season. Apparently, he didn't miss the $138,235.29

Bill, Meet Brock

Teams have been spending money recklessly on free agents. Most of these players won't ever see all of it or the full term of their contract. Quarterbacks are being paid a ton.

Brock Osweiler is a great example. He will be paid $37 million over the next two seasons, in spite of only having seven career starts.

He was signed without meeting Coach Bill O'Brien. That doesn't make any sense. What if their relationship doesn't work out? This has disaster written all over it.

The Growing Problem

I don't understand why the NFL doesn't work for a better solution to the concussion and CTE issue. They are still in denial after threatening the New York Times with a lawsuit over a story about concussions.

A league executive recently appeared before a Congressional committee and mumbled his way through some answers to questions addressing the problem.

There is a $1 billion legal settlement that the owners have offered. It still remains before a federal judge. The NFL needs to release that $1 billion is the starting point. Eventually, they will need to cut their losses and agree to give more money.

To China Again

The NFL has revived the idea of playing a game in China. This will happen at some point. The Pats were scheduled to play a pre-season game in 2007 against the Seattle Seahawks in the China Bowl. The game was rescheduled to 2009 and finally cancelled.

Now, the NFL wants to go back. Is this a better time now? Social media has changed so much since 2009. The league will make this work because of the money.

Julius Adams

Younger fans cannot appreciate the great player that Julius Adams was during his time with the Pats. The defensive star was a second round pick in 1971 and played for the team from 1971-1985 and again in 1987.

Adams died the other day at the age of 67.

He was a member of the team's 50th Anniversary team, playing in 206 career games. He also played in the team's first Super Bowl appearance after the 1985 season.

He was a great player in any era.

Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner was under the radar during his retirement until a few years ago when he announced that he was battling ALS. Many felt that his illness was brought on by years of head trauma. His future was bleak. The Pats announced his death the other day at the age of 46.

Turner was a third round draft pick of the Pats in 1992. He played three seasons for them before spending another five with the Philadelphia Eagles. He finished his career with 160 carries for 635 yards and one TD. He also had 236 receptions for 2,015 yards and 10 scores.

His brain and spinal cord will be donated for CTE research. His name was attached to the concussion lawsuit against the NFL.

Just Say No To Fenway

Boston College declined an opportunity to host their Nov 19th game at Fenway Park against UConn. After what they went through last season with Notre Dame, it's easy to see why.

BC was the visiting team against the Fighting Irish. They had to dress back in their own locker room and then take a bus to the game. The Eagles were allotted only 5,000 tickets.

The Eagles already have one less home game this season because of their trip to Ireland to host Georgia Tech. They did not want to have less than six games at Alumni Stadium. Fans also complained of poor sight lines to the field.

RG 3 - #25

Robert Griffin III made a smart decision when he signed a 2 year/$15 million contract with the Cleveland Browns. He can be a free agent in two years if he can resurrect his career in Cleveland.

RG III carries the hopes and dreams of Browns fans. Is he the guy that finally lead them to the playoffs?

Since 1999, the Browns have started24 different quarterbacks. RG III is #25 for better or worse.

Two Strikes and Out

I support the new rule which will lead to ejection from the game if a player gets two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The game has been getting out of control in recent years. Officials are hearing too much verbal abuse from the players.

There needs to be more self-control on the field. Officials must not get too quick with penalties for this to work.

More Head Injuries

The NFL Competition Committee is charged with trying to make the game safer. Recent rule changes were made to reduce concussions.

The league reported that they increased from 2014 which saw 206, compared to 271 in 2015. The increase is significant, but probably a result of better concussion protocol. More players are self-reporting, although many still try to hide them out of fear of losing their playing time.

I don't think the game can completely eliminate them.

Save The Ink

Pats owner Robert Kraft wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking for the reinstatement of their first round draft pick which was taken away as a result of Deflategate.

This was largely a public relations move to make the fans happy. Kraft has little support from the other owners. There is no way this will ever happen.

Matt VI

QB Matt Cassell has landed on his sixth team to start his 12th season in the NFL.  He has played for the Pats, Chiefs, Vikings, Bills, Cowboys and will now be in Tennessee as a back-up to Marcus Mariotta.

Cassell has had a remarkable career. He only took a few snaps in his college career at USC, but has lasted since 2005.

He continues to earn some good pay checks.

A Safe Record

The Indianapolis Colts plan to retire Peyton Manning's number and erect a statue outside of Lucas Oil Field. That seems to be the appropriate thing to due considering his impact on the franchise and city.

Manning holds so many team and league records. Some will never be broken, especially the 114 touchdowns that he hooked up with Marvin Harrison. Nobody is even close.

QB Phillip Rivers and TE Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers have 76 together, but Gates is almost at the end of his career.

Penalizing Long Kickoffs

The NFL always seems to come up with some strange rule changes to consider. One of the latest is to move the line of scrimmage on kickoff touchbacks from the 20 to the 25.

I don't understand the reasoning. The league was trying to eliminate kick returns because of the rate of concussions on the play. Now, they want to penalize teams who kick the ball into the end zone  which eliminates any possible return.

They want to have it both ways

Are Danny's Days Numbered?

Pats fans are getting excited about the arrival of WR Chris Hogan and TE Martellus Bennett and what they can bring to the offense, along with Julian Edelman. The man left out in the conversation is Danny Amendola who carries a $5 million salary cap hit.

Are we seeing the last of Amendola? I think we are unless he is willing to take another pay cut. That might be a bitter pill for him to swallow. He might be better off with getting his release now.

Nate's Choice

We don't hear too many stories about NFL players trying to make the US Olympic team, but Pats safety Nate Ebner is trying to do it for rugby. The team has publicly supported him, but they probably have no choice. It would look bad if they kept him from trying to make the men's team.

Ebner has played rugby his entire life and was a star at Ohio State. He was a reserve on the football team. Former Pats LB Mike Vrabel, who was coaching with the Buckeyes at the time, tipped off Coach Belichick about Ebner's special teams play.

The Pats selected him in the 6th round of the 2012 draft. He blossomed into a key special teams player. He also played a little bit of safety on defense.

It was his lifelong dream to play in the Olympics. He will miss the mini-camps and part of training camp. He recently signed a new contract with the team. I hope it works out for him. He is taking a chance of being injured or falling in the depth chart.

Big Game In Yankee Stadium

I think it's a challenge to create hype and excitement over FSC football games held in large stadiums. We will see the results when Holy Cross and Fordham play at Yankee Stadium on November 12th.

The schools will make money because of the broadcast revenue, but how many people will actually attend the game? Alumni will buy seats as a show of support, but they might not attend.

UMass has shown that a crowd of 10,000 looks lost in Gillette Stadium's 68,000 seats. I give them all credit for trying to grow the game. Hopefully, it works out.

On The Mark

QB Mark Sanchez was traded by the Eagles to the Broncos for a 7th round draft choice. This might be his best opportunity to be a starter.

After seven years in the league, he has a spotty resume with the Jets and Eagles. The Broncos are desperate for a quarterback with experience.

Will he have an impact on them? It's a low risk for the Broncos. Sanchez has his future riding on this move.

Johnny's #1

According to a number of NFL executives, Johnny Manziel might be considered the worst draft pick ever. This will be good news for Ryan Leaf who has held the title since 1998. Back then, Peyton Manning and Leaf were the first two selections of the draft. We all know how that worked out.

After Manziel was released, his publicist issued the typical statement thanking the Browns for the opportunity the last two years. It sounded so insincere and phony.

Next Stop Wherever

San Francisco 49er's QB Colin Kaepernick has been seeking a trade after losing his starting job last season. He should be careful because the Cleveland Browns are interested in him.

Going there would be a bad idea. The Browns are a bad team and lost several key free agents. Kaepernick does not want to be part of a rebuilding process.

He needs the right team and one that is willing to deal with his contract.

There Goes Johnny

The Cleveland Browns finally released QB Johnny Manziel after putting up with him for way too long. They foolishly thought that another team would offer a draft pick for a player who will most likely get some type of suspension from the league.

It's beginning to look like 2016 will be a lost year for him. Any team that signs him will need to put up with the negativity associated with his actions. He has not proven that he can play in the NFL.

His best option might be to get his life together and go play in the CFL for a season to regain some type of credibility.

No Fit For Fitz

New York Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick had a career year and is a free agent. After seeing all of the money being thrown around to quarterbacks, he would be a fool to take a pay cut to stay with the Jets. He should explore free agency and grab the money while he can.

The Jets have offered him a contract better than a back-up, but much less than what we have seen the last couple of days. They seem to have finally found their guy, but might lose him because they are trying to sign him for cheap money
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Spending Spree

I'm glad to see that the Pats are not throwing money around recklessly to free agents who don't deserve it. They will be prudent and not overspend on players they need. Like all other teams, they are mandated to spend to the salary cap. They will use some of the money to extend contracts to key players.

I don't blame anyone for trying to get the last dollar if a team is willing to spend. The market for starting quarterbacks is absurd. Brock Osweiler just got 4 years/ $72 million from the Houston Texans, in spite of starting only seven games in his career. Maybe they were blown away by his 5-2 career record.

Calvin Johnson

The great Calvin Johnson retired today from the Detroit Lions at the age of 30. He probably has something left, but injuries and losing have taken a toll on him. He was also scheduled to have a $24 million salary cap hit.

During his nine seasons, he was one of the most dominant receivers in the NFL. He held numerous team and league records. His career average of 86.1 yards per game should stand for a long time.

Will he make it to the Hall of Fame? In spite of his resume, the Lions only had one playoff win during his career.

His ending is very similar to that of Barry Sanders who retired the same way from the Lions back in 1999.

The End For RG 3

The time has ended for Robert Griffin III in Washington. The Redskins were not about to pay him $16.1 million for the 2016 season. He didn't play one snap in 2015.

Everyone has written him off as a starting quarterback. They say his best chance is to sign as a back-up and work from there.

He had a brilliant start to his career after being the second selection in the 2012 draft. He won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, but was never the same player after tearing his ACL and MCL during the Redskins' playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

That injury cost him a ton of money and derailed his career.

Donald & Bill

Boston sports-talk radio will light up on Monday with the discussion of Coach Belichick having dinner with Donald Trump last might. They go way back together to Bill's days with the New York Giants.

Belichick is owning social media right now, helped by his girlfriend's posting of pictures. Trump is also friendly with Robert Kraft and Tom Brady.

As an owner of a team with the new USFL in 1985, Trump signed  QB Doug Flutie to his New Jersey Generals. The league had a short life, but he was taking on the NFL back then.

It's interesting to note that Flutie's last stop was with the Pats in 2005.

Financial Planning Ahead

Everyone was thinking that Tom Brady would win his case against the NFL, but after the other day, it doesn't look so promising right now.  Three federal judges heard the appeal by the NFL to reinstate Brady's four game suspension.

Various legal experts felt the lawyers for the NFL made a strong case, based upon the questioning by the judges. A ruling should come by July.

Brady made a smart move the other day when he restructured his contract through the end of the 2019 season. Most of his salary for 2016 was converted to a bonus. If he loses four game checks, the financial impact will be less.

Trimming Time

The Pats are starting to trim their roster with the release of TE Scott Chandler and WR Brandon LaFell. They won't be the last players to be let go or not offered a contract.

It happens every year around the league. Some of the names are very interesting to hear. No team is ever the same as the previous season.

It will get real crazy next week with the start of free agency.

Peyton's Drama

If Peyton Manning was retiring, you think he would have held a press conference by now or had some type of announcement. The Denver Broncos already gave the franchise tag to Von Miller. There is no way they plan to pay Manning $19.5 million in 2016.

This will all come to a conclusion next week when free agency begins at the start of the league's new business year.

There are many reports out there that Manning wants to keep playing. It's a matter of having a team that wants to have them as their leader. The list is very short.

Don't Trade Jimmy

Now that the Pats have signed Tom Brady through the 2019 season, we are hearing talk that the team should trade back-up Jimmy Garoppolo while he is at his peak value. Nobody takes into account that he is their only option if Brady gets hurt.

Everyone is assuming that nothing will ever go wrong. They should look back to the opening game of the 2008 season when Brady was lost with a knee injury.

Garoppolo is signed through 2017. Some feel they should try to trade him to Cleveland for a first round pick. Why would the Browns give up such a high pick for a player with limited experience?

The Pats should continue with their plan for 2016. It's hard to believe that Brady will be the same player when he turns 42.

Mario Gone

Mario Williams ended his time in Buffalo today when he was released. The pass rusher had been at odds with Coach Rex Ryan over his role with the team.

He is a great example of a big free agent contract that never saw its fulfillment. He signed for six years/ $96 million in 2012 and was set to count $19.9 million on the Bill's cap.

Will teams jump at the chance to throw a ton of money to a 31 year old player who had a tough year in 2015? There are always teams out there that make bad decisions. It happens every year during the free agency period.