The Denver Broncos are in the midst of some serious turnover on defense. The team flat-out stunk defensively last season, and the Broncos have already overhauled their coaching staff. Now, it's the players' turn to experience some change.
Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.
Quarterback:Chad Pennington enters 2008 trying to prove yet again that he -- wait, what? Who? Really? Didn't he retire? Oh. I see. It doesn't seem like Brett Favre wants to play in New York this year, he's basically said so much in the most diplomatic way possible, which means this is the year where Favre stops having fun. This is the year he stops looking like a kid again, to support the cliche. And it can be argued that that magic has perpetuated itself, and has been the reason Favre is still considered -- rightfully or not -- one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Without it, I can imagine 2008 being a disaster for Favre -- bad play and missed games. And then the New York media jumps in and the misery just compounds. That's how I see 2008 rolling. Oh, plus, they don't have a decent backup quarterback. Heat Index: 6
The Bengals did well under the circumstances, but they didn't get the defensive tackle (Sedrick Ellis) they coveted. Cincinnati tried all offseason to get a defensive tackle, but trades for Shaun Rogers and Dewayne Robertson fell through, and Ellis went to the New Orleans Saints when they traded up to No. 9. Cincinnati got a break when the Patriots traded down and didn't take linebacker Keith Rivers, who was a great choice for the Bengals. But they needed a defensive tackle.
I like Keith as the pick in the first round. I understand that everyone wanted Ellis, but he was gone before their pick. I do see the reasoning to be angry since the Bengals just couldn't do that little extra to deal up to get Ellis ... or finish off those trades for Rogers or Robertson. I still doubt that it makes the Bengals draft a bad one.
I do feel that this put them over the top. They really, really reached on WR Jerome Simpson. With the kind of names left on the board and the fact that no one valued him that high, using a 2nd rounder on Simpson was bad.
When looking at Clayton's Day 1 losers, most are because of deals they didn't make and not an indictment on who the teams actually selected.
The Jets had an awfully hard time finding a trade partner for Dewayne Robertson before finally sending him to the Denver Broncos on Thursday. Robertson's combination of a massive salary and knees that couldn't pass a physical kept the return pretty low, a 2009 conditional draft choice, but the point was getting his contract off the books not on a massive bounty.
That's good, since that pick may never actually come to fruition. The Denver Post reports that the Jets will only receive a pick from Denver if Robertson plays more that 65% of the defensive snaps during the 2008 season. Elvis Dumervil was the only Bronco lineman to reach that plateau in 2007 and, given the way Mike Shanahan stockpiles linemen, it's not hard to see them getting good production from Robertson and giving up nothing to the Jets.
In spite of his knee problems, Robertson has never missed a game with the Jets and has crossed the playing time threshold each year so there's still a chance the Jets could get a payoff. Even if the Broncos do have to hand over a pick, Shanahan gets high marks for pulling off this deal. Robertson's contract has been restructured and he fills a big lead in the middle of the defensive line and it cost the team relatively little, if anything.
Adam Schefter of NFL Network is reporting that after months of trying, the Jets have finally found a trading partner for defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson, sending him to the Broncos for a conditional 2009 draft pick.
Robertson, who was the fourth overall pick of the 2003 draft, was hard to trade because his current contract calls for him to make $8 million this year. The Broncos will, one would assume, restructure Robertson's contract to lessen his cap hit.
The 6-foot-1, 310-pound Robertson is a talented athlete who showed flashes of the talent that made him a high draft pick, but he was never nearly as productive as the Jets thought he'd be when they drafted him, and he was a bad fit for the 3-4 defense that Jets coach Eric Mangini prefers.
In Denver, Robertson should be a better fit for the defensive scheme, and he's expected to earn a spot in the starting lineup from Day 1.
In 2003, Dewayne Robertson was a defensive line prospect from Kentucky and the subject of a major pre-draft trade, as the Jets moved up to the fourth overall pick to add a player they thought would be one of the league's elite defensive tackles.
It hasn't worked out that way, and it's now time for the Jets to cut their losses with Robertson. The only question is whether they can get anything for him in a trade, and it's now looking like another pre-draft trade involving Robertson is a possibility, this time sending him to the Eagles.
Robertson visited the Eagles' facilities to take a physical, which the Jets likely wouldn't have approved unless the teams have worked out the basic structure of a deal that would send a draft pick or two to New York in exchange for Robertson. The only question is whether the Eagles and Robertson can agree on a contract. If that can happen within the next week, Robertson will be an Eagle and the Jets will have a couple more second-day picks.
Dewayne Robertson won't go down as the greatest bust in New York Jets draft history. Blair Thomas, Johnny "Lam" Jones and Dave Cadigan made sure of that. But, given the two first-round picks given up to get him and the millions of dollars paid him, he's certainly a waste of the fourth overall selection in the 2003 draft. He's got no place in the middle of a 3-4 defensive line and a huge cap number, which is why the team's been trying to trade him.
Two such deals have already failed as did an attempt to fold him into the Kris Jenkins trade. While the Panthers weren't interested in that move, they aren't totally opposed to adding Robertson to their roster. The Charlotte Observer reports that if and when he's released, they'd be interested in bringing him aboard.
If that happens, sources say Carolina likely will get involved, though it isn't clear how much they'd be willing to pay. The Panthers desperately need defensive tackle help and Robertson is superior to the other free agents currently available at that position.
It would seem that the Jets will get a similar response from any potential trading partners, all of whom would gladly snap up Robertson as a free agent. That would leave the Jets the following options for dealing with Robertson:
It looks like a second attempt to trade Dewayne Robertson will fall by the wayside. The Jets and Broncos have been working on a deal for some time and it seemed like they were making progress. Robertson went to Denver to take a physical and we thought we were just waiting for the confirmation.
According to Tom Rock of Newsday, though, it's time to stop holding our breath. The trade is on life support and doctors are telling it to get its will in order. Robertson did fail his physical but that was expected and the Broncos needs made them willing to roll the dice. The culprit is looking like the financial difficulties that forced the Broncos to fire eight employees yesterday.
Robertson was supposedly willing to work with the Broncos on a new deal, but he wasn't able to come down enough for them to make it work. The cash-strapped Broncos just couldn't afford to take on his salary (though I was told they were, at one point, willing to go into debt to bring him in).
Football imitates life. Part of the reason for the meltdown of the mortgage industry was the willingness of people to buy homes they couldn't afford and, it seems, part of the reason for Denver's financial meltdown. They were willing to go into debt to trade for an overpriced player who would probably be released if his current team couldn't trade him? If that's not the football equivalent of buying a McMansion on a McDonald's salary, I don't know what is.
The Jets begin their offseason workouts at their Hofstra training camp today and their plethora of new additions will spend their first day going through the team's system with their new teammates. The day won't offer many clues about how the team will look during the 2008 season, in fact, the most interesting thing about the day should be the players who aren't taking part in practice.
It's highly unlikely that Laveranues Coles will be part of the action. The wideout has made it very clear that he wants a new contract but there's been no movement on a new deal. Throw in his rumored discontent about the money thrown at new players and there's little reason to believe that he'll put the team's wishes first and show up for the voluntary workout.
Dewayne Robertson is also a good bet to skip the practice. Trade talks with the Broncos continue to simmer and with Kris Jenkins in town he won't be missed at all.
Neither absence will cause much of a stir but there's one other player who could make waves. The Jets Blogreminds us that Chad Pennington would like to be playing somewhere else. There's said to be an open competition for quarterback but if Pennington really wants to force a move out of town, he could skip today's workouts and force the team's hand. It seems unlikely to play out that way but serves as a reminder that all the Jet changes haven't cleared up their uncertainty under center.
The Jets visited with Ty Law and Donald Strickland at their headquarters yesterday, a sure sign that they'd like to improve their corps of defensive backs entering 2008. The Broncos ran through about three dozen defensive tackles last season and never really settled on any long-term answers for their needs at the position. They have upgraded at linebacker and safety through free agency but haven't inked the DT they need. It makes sense, then, that the two teams are talking trade.
The Jets would probably prefer to have draft picks than another nickel-type cornerback but beggars can't be choosers. They need to erase Robertson from their salary cap post-haste and Foxworth would see a fair amount of action in 2008. As for the Broncos, they've never had a problem with trying to rehabilitate defensive lineman who were picked high in the draft and struggled, e.g. Gerard Warren and Courtney Brown.
In the past, however, Ted Sundquist has had a hand in the Bronco personnel decisions. The team fired their longtime G.M. yesterday, though, and it will be interesting to see if that results in a change of organizational philosophy.
The Denver Broncos are in the midst of some serious turnover on defense. The team flat-out stunk defensively last season, and the Broncos have already overhauled their coaching staff. Now, it's the players' turn to experience some change.
Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.
During the NFL Draft, there are winners and there are losers. Somebody has to have to worst draft ... according to the experts. 
The Jets had an awfully hard time finding a trade partner for Dewayne Robertson before finally sending him to the Denver Broncos on Thursday. Robertson's combination of a massive salary and knees that couldn't pass a physical kept the return pretty low, a 2009 conditional draft choice, but the point was getting his contract off the books not on a massive bounty. 
Adam Schefter of NFL Network is reporting that after months of trying, the Jets have finally found a trading partner for defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson, sending him to the Broncos for a conditional 2009 draft pick.
Dewayne Robertson won't go down as the greatest bust in New York Jets draft history. Blair Thomas, Johnny "Lam" Jones and Dave Cadigan made sure of that. But, given the two first-round picks given up to get him and the millions of dollars paid him, he's certainly a waste of the fourth overall selection in the 2003 draft. He's got no place in the middle of a 3-4 defensive line and a huge cap number, which is why the team's been trying to trade him. 
It looks like a second attempt to trade Dewayne Robertson will fall by the wayside. The Jets and Broncos have been working on a deal for some time and it seemed like they were making progress. Robertson went to Denver to take a physical and we thought we were just waiting for the confirmation. 
The Jets begin their offseason workouts at their Hofstra training camp today and their plethora of new additions will spend their first day going through the team's system with their new teammates. The day won't offer many clues about how the team will look during the 2008 season, in fact, the most interesting thing about the day should be the players who aren't taking part in practice. 
