WithFantasy Footballseason ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.
Meet the ... Home of Smash and Dash. Why is that important? Because that's the nickname of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, one of the most prolific running back combinations in the NFL last year. Oh, yes, and in case you didn't see the Jake Delhomme Meltdown Party against the Arizona Cardinals in the playoffs last year, the running game is mildly important to the Panthers success.
The saga of Julius Peppers, the Carolina Panthers' disgruntled defensive end, faded quickly into the background (thanks, Messrs. Favre and Cutler!) as the football loving world moved away from the NFL Draft and closer to training camp.
But Wednesday, seemingly out of nowhere, the Panthers announced that Peppers had -- finally -- agreed to sign his offer sheet and remain a Panther for at least the next season, barring any very surprising transactions. From the good folks at ITP:
According to XTRA Radio in Phoenix, Arizona defensive tackle Darnell Dockett has requested a trade.
Dockett has three years and $11.25 million left in base salaries on his contract.
"It's not something I want to comment on right now," Dockett's agent Drew Rosenhaus told FanHouse Monday night. Rosenhaus said the report didn't originate from him or his client.
Dockett is one of the best players at his position in the game. He's played in 79 of 80 games since he came into the league in 2004 and he registered 55 total tackles, four sacks and 13 quarterback hits last season.
But since this is Favre, can we really be sure he won't change his mind? And since quarterback isn't exactly a position at which NFL teams are overflowing with depth of talent, can we really be sure nobody will be interested if he does? No. Of course we can't. And so, with that in mind and your Saturday morning breakfast still warm, we hereby present the Five Teams That Could (Theoretically) Go Back Down the Agonizingly Painful Brett Favre Road in 2009:
The first day of minicamps are over for the day and we recap some highlights.
Vikings coach Brad Childress could have taken the easy way out Friday when asked about retired quarterback Brett Favre.
Instead he said, "We haven't (talked about Favre); it doesn't mean we won't ... We talk about everything, from what's going on in the United States today. We talk about everything, so yeah, I'm sure we'll talk about that."
The hardest thing to figure out about the Broncos' decision to trade Jay Cutler was determining fair value for a soon-to-be 26-year-old quarterback who has established himself as a starter in the NFL. Those deals don't happen often enough to provide a gauge for what's a good return. Making matters more difficult was the public nature of the trade talks, which seemed to back the Broncos into a corner.
I don't know about you, but when one of my bosses urgently needs me, he either calls or yanks me by the earlobe into his office. We're still waiting for Pat Bowlen to have such contact with Jay Cutler, which shocks me. For a quarter-century, Bowlen has been among the dynamic owners in American sports, a primary reason why the Denver Broncos have been an elite NFL franchise.
Earlier this week, NFL Network's Adam Schefter put the chances of the Patriots landing Julius Peppers anytime in the near future at roughly 0.1 percent. Yesterday, in an interview with Boston radio station WEEI, New England head coach Bill Belichick, spoke in laudatory generalities about Peppers, which, ultimately, could mean nothing more than he really likes the Carolina defensive end.
Rumors swirled wildly yesterday that the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots were discussing a trade that would send Julius Peppers to the Pats in exchange for a 34th overall pick, the same one that New England received in exchange for Matt Cassel from the Kansas City Chiefs.