FanHouse MattMillen

When talking about front-office futility, Matt Millen sets the pace. Mercifully for Lions fans, he's been relieved of his duties as the team's president and general manager, but his legacy lives on. His infatuation with using high-round draft picks on wide receivers might have been his biggest weakness, although that's certainly up for debate.

Charles Rogers and Mike Williams are on the list of first-round wide receiver busts, but a name that's often overlooked -- and one that we can't blame on Millen -- is Peter Warrick, who the Bengals selected with the fourth-overall pick in 2001.

We found out just a couple of days ago that Matt Millen would join the NFL Network's Thursday Night Football broadcasts in 2009. And to that news, I, like most people, am fairly indifferent. Millen's no John Madden, but he's a decent enough football analyst, so that might work out fine.

Millen isn't -- and doesn't deserve to be -- forever banned from football circles simply because of his 31-97 record as Detroit's general manager

What he does deserve, though, is his, (pun-intended) Lions' share of the blame. So what I can't get on board with is Millen playing the role of the victim as he did in an interview with SI's Don Banks.

And the Matt Millen Redemption Tour rolls on.

The former Lions general manager and team president, who had cornered the market on Detroit's hatred until Sidney Crosby sauntered along, will be the new analyst on the NFL Network's Thursday Night Football broadcasts.

Millen will replace Cris Collinsworth -- John Madden's successor on Monday Night Football -- and will team with Bob Papa in the NFL Network booth.

Jon Gruden is the new Tony Kornheiser. Just about everybody not working for NFL Network is cool with that.

Mr. Tony the columnist and Pardon the Interruption co-host was nothing like Mr. Tony the third wheel in the Monday Night Football booth, and his departure -- whether on his own terms or otherwise -- is a welcome change. Before ESPN named Gruden to replace Kornheiser, NFL Network had similar plans: they wanted Chucky to move into Cris Collinsworth's seat (Cris graduated to Sunday Night Football after John Madden retired) and work alongside Bob Papa on the eight Thursday night games.

The FanHouse Podcast: Because bloggers are much sexier on the phone.

In Episode 23, FanHouse's Michael David Smith joins Will Brinson and Ryan Wilson to talk about Tony Kornheiser's departure from Monday Night Football. Jon Gruden now has the gig, but is it a one-year deal? And is there a chance that should Gruden return to coaching in 2010, Matt Millen is next in line? Good times.

The conversation also touches on Malcolm Gladwell, who thinks the Lions had nothing to lose by featuring the no-huddle during their run to 0-16 last season, as well as the latest on Brett Favre. Naturally.

One of the maddening things about the Detroit Lions over the eight-year Matt Millen era -- and especially during their winless season in 2008 -- was that no matter how awful the team was, the coaches and front office seemed to feel certain that they were doing things the right way, and that they didn't need to change.

Every time Millen addressed the media during his horrendous run as the team's president, reporters would pose him questions about ways that the Lions should change their approach, and Millen would, without fail, insist that he had the right plan for changing the team's fortunes, and that they were close to turning the corner. And after Millen was finally fired early in the 2008 season, head coach Rod Marinelli constantly insisted that his approach to coaching was the right one, even as he became the first coach ever to finish a season 0-16.

The Detroit Lions are at a turning point, no? They just shed their old regime run by Matt Millen, they drafted their franchise quarterback and, even in the darkest of times for Detroit, there appears to be some hope. Until you start reading Terry Foster's recent Lions round-up in his Detroit News column.

You see, Foster finds -- in two separate items -- the real reason why the Lions fail: as their fans are, sadly, busy caring too much about the team, the Lions are busy caring too little about their fans. How do I know this? Because Foster mentions a fan who gets a Lions tattoo on his butt, and then in the next item discusses the fact that the team is repurposing jerseys. That's right, "Kevin Jones" is suddenly becoming "Kevin Smith."

Heading into the 2009 season, we know this much about the Miami Dolphins quarterback situation: Chad Pennington is going to be the starter, and for good reason. After 2009? Well, that's anybody's guess. Miami seems to be quite high on 2008 second-round pick Chad Henne, which played a role in the front office's decision to not offer Pennington a long-term contract extension after he helped guide the Dolphins to an AFC East title.

On Saturday, the Dolphins raised a few eyebrows when they used the 44th overall pick on West Virginia quarterback Pat White ... the third straight year they've selected a quarterback in the second round.

The Detroit Lions took all the suspense out of the first pick in Saturday's NFL draft by signing quarterback Matthew Stafford to a six-year contract Friday night. But the Lions made a couple of surprising picks later in the day, drafting Brandon Pettigrew with the 20th pick and Louis Delmas with the 33rd.

Pettigrew is a talented tight end from Oklahoma State who will be a good target for Stafford, but I'm not convnced he was the right pick at 20. I would have preferred a player like Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin or Illinois cornerback Vontae Davis.

Last year, the Chiefs put together one of the most impressive two-day draft showings I can remember. Glenn Dorsey, Branden Albert, Brandon Flowers, and Jamaal Charles -- all taken in the first three rounds -- saw significant playing time as rookies, and fifth-round defensive back Brandon Carr started every game. (Worth pointing out: the Chiefs might try to move Dorsey.)

It wasn't enough to save Herman Edwards' job; after taking the Chiefs to the playoffs in 2006, he only managed six wins the last two seasons. But new general manager Scott Pioli and new head coach Todd Haley have plenty of young talent to rebuild the team, and in March, they traded for their franchise quarterback: former Patriots backup Matt Cassel who, according to NFL Network's Mike Lombardi, just signed a six-year, $36 million deal. Not Matthew Stafford money, but it'll keep him comfortable.