the urbane league

+Props are in order to the Chicago Bears for getting a deal done with former Lions running back, Kevin Jones. The Bears get Kevin Jones for a steal on a one year $605,000 contract. I believe that if Jones is in fact completely healed, he could really assert himself as a quality ball carrier in the NFL next season. The Bears really rectified what I felt was a HUGE mistake, by not moving up to snag Jonathan Stewart, and passing on Rashard Mendenhall. It has been clear for quite some time that Cedric Benson was not the answer for Chicago, and I think with Jones, they get a tough, blue collar type runner who really knows how to gain yards and finish runs.

+The Dallas Cowboys got a deal worked out with safety Ken Hamlin. The deal is worth 6 years and $39M, with $15M guaranteed. This is a great move for the Cowboys, whose secondary has held the team back for quite some time. With Hamlin resigned, and (hopefully) an Adam Jones re-instatement, the Cowboys will be free to put all their talented secondary players on the field during third downs. The possibility of putting Newman, Jones, Henry, Jenkins and Hamlin all out there at the same time bodes extremely well for Dallas’ nickel package. It pains me to say but the more good solid secondary players we can get active and back on field, the fewer snaps Roy Williams will see in coverage.

+Both Dallas and Chicago are inquiring about the possibility of acquiring Chris Simms from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Personally, I don’t know why John Gruden is doing holding on to the kid. Gruden obviously isn’t going to play Simms, as Garcia, McCown and Griese are listed ahead of Simms on the depth chart, and they drafted project Josh Johnson. To me, if Gruden is holding on to Simms just for shits & giggles (pardon my French), that’s terrible. Simms is a young player who looked like he was just starting to turn the corner, until that game against Carolina where they estimate his spleen had ruptured somewhere between the middle of the first quarter and beginning of the second. Especially for that game, Gruden should release Simms and let him go sign somewhere else. Obviously, the selfish side of me wants Simms in Dallas, because I think he would be a good back up, but the best thing for him would be to seek out a starting job in Chicago.

+With all this drama unfolding between the Packers and Brett Favre, I just wanted to give Aaron Rodgers some dap for handling this situation with some class. If he was just like Favre, he’d probably be crying about how unfair this whole thing was for him. Lord knows, he would probably ask for his unconditional release. I also want to take this opportunity to say that if Aaron Rodgers starts for the Green Bay Packers, they will win at least 10 games. People are sleeping on how good that Packer team is. Remember, that team should have been in the Super Bowl, but it was just one of those pesky back-breaking Favre post-season interceptions. Between Driver, Jennings, Donald Lee and the emergence of Ryan Grant, a game manager can take that team to a division title.

+Props to Bodymore, they signed their first round pick Joe Flacco to, believe it or not, a contract commensurate with his NFL experience. The Ravens got Joe Flacco for a 5 year deal worth a maximum of $30M, with $8.75M guaranteed. As far as I’m concerned Joe Flacco has a wide open chance to be the day one starter (obviously, only if he can learn the terminology and playbook fast enough). I will say though, if Flacco doesn’t win the job, it is more likely than not that Troy Smith is the starter. I saw the way he played at the end of last season, and I’m not saying he looked amazing, but compared to Boller, Smith looked like a seasoned vet.