FanHouse Joe Horn

If Derrick Mason has retired as a negotiating ploy, his hand just got a whole lot stronger. The announcement that his replacement Drew Bennett has also retired means that once again, the Ravens are faced with arguably the worst receiving corps in the league.

You could argue that adding Bennett didn't do a whole lot to change that, but without Mason and Bennett, the Ravens are left with Mark Clayton and very little else.

It's hard to think of a receiver more important to his offense than Mason. He was Joe Flacco's target on 121 passes last year -- the rest of the receivers on the Ravens' 2008 roster were targeted for only 110 combined passes. According to Football Outsiders' stats, Clayton was the target for 82 passes, No. 3 wide receiver Demetrius Williams was thrown 23 balls and Yamon Figurs, a kick returner who occasionally will get a play at wide receiver, saw five balls.

From the moment wide receiver Michael Crabtree decided to leave Texas Tech for the NFL, he's been scrutinized. Crabtree didn't want to play for the Raiders, had a posse, was a diva, rubbed his new teammates the wrong way and almost cried in front of 49ers coach Mike Singletary.

Crabtree disputes all those claims -- according to Crabtree, his adjustment to the NFL has been pain-free.

"I haven't had too many surprises," Crabtree told FanHouse on Wednesday from San Francisco. "You expect the unexpected, that's how I live. I got my backup plan ready. It's what I do."

Santonio Holmes recently got tattooed by the NFL to the tune of $10,000 for his Super Bowl touchdown celebration that imitated LeBron James' powder-toss at the beginning of each game.

It was a logical penalty according to the NFL rules, but that doesn't make it any less annoying that amusing NFL celebrations get fined. James apparently agrees too, because when he was informed of the NFL's fine on the Super Bowl MVP, he wasn't very impressed.

Santonio Holmes recently got tattooed by the NFL to the tune of $10,000 for his Super Bowl touchdown celebration that imitated LeBron James' traditional pregame powder-toss.

It was a logical penalty according to the NFL rules, but that doesn't make it any less annoying that amusing NFL celebrations get fined. James apparently agrees too, because when he was informed of the NFL's fine on the Super Bowl MVP, he wasn't very impressed.

On Monday, I admitted that I might've been off on the whole "the Giants will be fine without Plax" story line. New York has dropped two in a row and suddenly look very ordinary. And much of that has to do with there being no big-play threat on the field now that Plaxico Burress has been suspended for the rest of the year.

Evidently, I gave Domenik Hixon a little too much credit. And so did head coach Tom Coughlin. Which explains why the team put 36-year-old Joe Horn through the paces earlier this week. The Giants decided not to sign him -- perhaps because he's 36 years old -- and Horn took the news about how you might expect: he accused the organization of using of him.

[Horn] believes the Giants never had any intention of signing him, that they just brought him in to create some sort of "spark" among the young receivers they already have.

"I was told to pack my clothes because I may be staying," Horn told The Monty Show on Sporting News Radio earlier today. ... "However, before I could step in the locker room I had an itinerary with my flight back to Atlanta. The opportunity was there. I appreciate the organization and Coach Coughlin for giving me the opportunity.

I feel kind of bad for Lane Kiffin. He seems like a likable guy. Young, full of fire, an NFL Head Coach at the age of 32, he's got a lot going for him. Except for the fact that NFL coaching job just happens to be with the Oakland Raiders. And, well, as long as the long arm of Al Davis is still able to reach out of the owners box and pull the strings his head coach is attached to on the sidelines, he's going to be calling all of the shots. Case in point: The Raiders quest to find a replacement for the injured Drew Carter.

When Kiffin was asked this evening if any of the available free agents (more on this in a second) would be coming in for a tryout with the squad, Kiffin gave a curious reply for someone in his position (Head Coach!): "I have no idea."

Um. Interesting.

Jerry McDonald at the Contra Costa Times throws out the names of Koren Robinson and Joe Horn, and jokingly (I hope) made references to former Raiders Doug Gabriel, Carlos Francis and Johnnie Morant. Obviously those guys aren't coming back, but Robinson and Horn seem like just the type of guys Al Davis would love to bring on board, especially in a time of total desperation. McDonald even quotes Horn's agent as saying he expects to hear from the Raiders.

It's a funny thing to see Joe Horn humbled. He is, after all, the guy that once pulled a cell phone out of the goal post padding and pretended to make a telephone call as a touchdown celebration. (Aside: very innovative idea, for sure, but was it that awesome? I always felt that compared with something like Terrell Owens' Sharpie move, it was pretty lame.)

Point being that Horn is not what you would call "quiet" or "modest". So finding out that his agent has called every single team in the NFL trying to land Joe a job, well, that's kind of funny.

Although the agent for newly available wide receiver Joe Horn has contacted the Dolphins to gauge their potential interest in the former Falcons pass catcher, there's no reason to get over anxious about any imminent signing.

The agent, Ralph Vitolo, also contacted 31 other teams. Yes, every one other than the Falcons, who released Horn on Tuesday.

[...]Vitolo has reached out to the Dolphins, but no conversations have taken place. Vitolo sent the team an e-mail and also left a message. He hopes to speak with Miami later tonight.

Let me be perfectly clear about one thing: if you have left a message and an email for the Miami Dolphins to give you a job and you haven't heard back, you are desperate, friend.

I don't care when you expect a call back, it's tough to be in a worse spot than that. Now, Horn will probably end up somewhere. There are, plenty of jokes about the Chicago receiving corps aside, plenty of teams that could use a wily, somewhat surehanded slot guy.

Via PFT

Joe Horn is unhappy, which apparently happens with the frequency of the sunrise. He's currently in Atlanta, property of the Falcons, but he'd love to be anywhere else.

Six weeks ago, Horn made a plea for the Cowboys to save him from the Falcons, and nothing came of it. So, naturally, he broke out the PR machine for another go of it. Via PFT, Horn told Dan Patrick, who was conveniently hosting a radio show, that he'd love to play in Dallas or Philadelphia.

Given that Horn is well past the unofficial NFL retirement age for wide receivers, I'm not sure if anything will come of this. The thing is, if he had signed with the Packers over the Falcons last year, this wouldn't even be an issue. Of course, Horn probably would've had to sign for less money to play in Green Bay, and while I'll never begrudge a player for taking the dough, it's really hard to defend anybody willingly agreeing to go to Atlanta.

Whatever, Andrew Brandt, former Packers front office-type turned Internet writer, retells the story:

Joe Horn is getting desperate.

The aging, if still highly paid wide receiver is so miserable in Atlanta that he came thisclose to saying he'd pay to get his release.

"I'm even contemplating giving some money back to further this thing along," Horn told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. "I'm ready to get it solved and move on. The longer I stay here, the worse it's going to get."

Horn carries a $2.5 million cap hit for this year, so if he was willing to give some of that back, it would go a long way toward speeding up the Falcons decision to cut him. Of course, by saying that, Horn just ensured that as long as he doesn't give any money back, he'll probably be carried on the roster until the final week of the preseason at the least. For Atlanta, he's just an expensive insurance policy right now, but there's nothing to be gained by cutting him early.

Now that Joe Jurevicius might not be ready for the start of training camp, thanks to knee surgery No. 4 this offseason, the discussion turns to who will man the No. 3 wide receiver position in his absence. Pro Football Weekly writes that Joshua Cribbs could be one alternative, although they admit that he struggled with drop passes during minicamp.

There are also rumors that the Browns are interested in trading for Chargers wideout Eric Parker, and some fans wonder if Eddie Kennison or Joe Horn are viable options (yes, no and no). Perhaps the most intriguing alternative is the suggestion that the Browns could move tight end Kellen Winslow to receiver in certain passing situations. The Orange and Brown Report's Lane Adkins quickly nixes the thought:

Winslow does line-up wide often as part of the offensive scheme, but there is absolutely no desire on part of the Browns to move him to the WR spot and basically rip some of the fabric from the scheme.