Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
No team enjoys wheeling and dealing on draft weekend quite like the New England Patriots. The 2009 draft was no exception, as they made a series of moves resulting in 12 picks, and the stockpiling of even more selections in 2010.
As a result, the moves left the Patriots with no first-round selection for the first time since 2000, which is also the same year they selected some guy named Tom Brady.
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.
The New England Patriots' decision to slap the franchise tag on Matt Cassel, guaranteeing almost $15 million to their backup quarterback, means that between Cassel and Tom Brady, about a quarter of the team's entire 2009 salary cap is tied up just in the quarterback position. And that means there's less money for everyone else, as Vince Wilfork is finding out.
Wilfork, the Patriots' enormous nose tackle, is due an $800,000 base salary for 2009, the last season on the contract he signed as the Patriots' first-round pick (21st overall) in 2004. That's a paltry salary for a player of Wilfork's caliber, and he thinks he's due a nice new contract with a nice raise. But he tells the Boston Globe that although the Patriots know he'd like to do a new deal, he hasn't heard anything from them in a year.
Through the first six years of his career, Oakland Raiders left tackle Kwame Harris hasn't exactly lived up to the expectations that come with being the No. 26 overall pick in the NFL draft. After being, basically, a bust of a selection for the 49ers, Harris moved across the bay prior to this season and inked a three-year, $16 million deal with the Raiders.
Thus far, the move has been maddening, if not completely frustrating, for the Raiders and their fans. Fortunately (I think) for silver and black faithful, the madness is coming to an end this Sunday, when Harris is going to be taking a seat on the bench in favor of Mario Henderson when the Raiders host New England.
According to Raiders beat writer Jerry McDonald, the reason for the benching is because Harris can't seem to grasp the concept that offensive lineman aren't allowed to move before the snap, and because he's been a turnstile when it comes to protecting JaMarcus Russell's blindside.
Last week, after the league announced that it would only fine cheap-shot artist Vince Wilfork for his latest transgression, I joked that the NFL Plinko Board came up "Fine but no Suspension," because it was the only way to rationalize such a seemingly arbitrary punishment for a chronic offender.
This week, Wilfork was called into the principals offense to explain himself for an alleged cheap shot on Jay Cutler's head, and was facing a possible suspension for his latest act of violence and rage against his fellow NFL players.
According to Chris (SCOOP!) Mortensen, commissioner Roger Goodellwas ready to lay down the law and suspend Wilfork until he was handed a DVD showing a different camera angle of the play in question. Who gave him the DVD? Wilfork's wife, Bianca.
The Denver Post's Mike Klis makes an interesting point: when it comes to the NFL Gestapo meting out punishments, players who receive bad publicity for their actions receive stiffer penalties than those who don't, no matter how egregious the offense. I have no idea if the data support Klis's claim, but anecdotally, it certainly seems plausible.
"When he gets beaten on a play and then retaliates with a cheap shot, it's uncalled for," [center Casey] Wiegmann said. "But a lot of guys on their defense are doing that type of stuff. If you go back and watch the play-by-play, stuff happens late all the time."
Goodell determined that Wilfork wouldn't be suspended for repeatedly violating the rules, but would incur a fine. And today we find out how much. From the Boston Globe (via PFT):
Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork will be fined $35,000 by the NFL, a league source confirmed today. ...
The fine itself is not for Wilfork's alleged elbow to Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, but instead, for what league officials felt was a pattern of aggression that could negatively impact other players in the game, the league source said. Unnecessary roughness against the Broncos was what sparked the fine (updated 12:21 p.m.).
When Wilfork met with commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday, Goodell wanted to be sure that Wilfork understood the importance of the safety of the players around him. The fine provides Wilfork something tangible that clearly reflects Goodell's thoughts.
So Goodell had to explain to Wilfork that, say, trying to decapitate Jay Cutler, or permanently hobble J.P. Losman, is frowned upon down at league headquarters? (Is that a secret?) And to show he means business, the commissioner asks Wilfork to write a check for $35,000, which works out to six percent of his 2008 base salary.
With Rodney Harrison done for the year -- and maybe forever -- New England's Vince Wilfork has happily assumed the role of the league's dirtiest player. It's quite an impressive resume, really, and Wilfork's latest antics, a forearm shiver to Jay Cutler's noggin two Monday nights ago, earned him an all-expenses paid trip to New York to visit with Commissar Goodell.
Speculation had Wilfork likely receiving a fine and even a suspension for his latest transgression, but as MDS wrote this morning, and Mike Reiss later confirmed, the Patriots nose tackle will only have to write the league a check and he can get back to the business of illegally maiming opponents.
FanHouse sources* confirm that Goodell would have leveled a much stiffer punishment had Wilfork danced while perpetrating this disgusting act. Because, as the league has made perfectly clear, all crimes are not created equal. Cheap-shot head trauma is one thing; shaking your booty is something else entirely. And it WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.
Plus, the new NFL Punishment Plinko Board came up "Fine but no Suspension," further validating Goodell's instincts. Makes perfect sense, really.
This concludes another edition of Arbitrary NFL Sanctions That Deter No One.
At the time, he told the Boston Herald, "It's not going to stop the way I play and prepare ... I'd never alter my game just because of something like that. That was in the past. I really don't care about it. I'm going to do what I got to do to get myself ready for the season."
Well, Vince, the league would like to have a word. After last week's pummeling of the Broncos, new Zapruder-quality evidence has emerged of Wilfork -- you guessed it -- taking a cheap shot at a Denver player. But not just anybody; quarterback Jay Cutler. From NFL Network's Adam Schefter:
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
The New England Patriots' decision to slap the franchise tag on 
Through the first six years of his career, Oakland Raiders left tackle 
Last week, after the league announced that it would 
The Denver Post's Mike Klis makes an interesting point: when it comes to the NFL Gestapo meting out punishments, players who receive bad publicity for their actions receive stiffer penalties than those who don't, no matter how egregious the offense. I have no idea if the data support Klis's claim, but anecdotally, it certainly seems plausible. 
Yesterday 
