Kyle Orton was named the starter for the Chicago Football Bears this week. Not to rain on his parade, and I’m sure his mother is very proud, but c’mon; what does that really mean? It means he beat out an interception machine and a rookie from Colorado State. The fact of the matter is, Orton has somehow managed the master the art of not losing games while putting together unbelievably bad football. Orton is like a pitcher who is 10-5 on the season, but rolls with an ERA somewhere around 7 or 8; he makes ALL the little mistakes, but never makes the catastrophic, back-breaking one. The important thing to realize is that Chicago’s offensive line is still awful, and that in and of itself means that Rex could be in there by week 6.

What I really don’t understand is that if you’re Bears’ management, you KNOW that neither Rex nor Orton are the man, so…a la Dallas Cowboys with Tony Romo, why wouldn’t you just put Caleb Hanie in? Orton plays about 50 QB RAT football, and Rex is just a walking train wreck. You might as well see what the rookie’s got. You can make the argument that it would look like they’ve given up on this season, but I’d say it looked that way the instant they decided not to upgrade their quarterback situation.

I’m just sayin’…

This is why Chad Johnson is a clown. My friends always ask me, how can you like T.O. and dislike Chad Johnson. Chad Johnson spent the whole off season talking about how dead serious he was that he was not going to play in Cincinnati anymore, and just as the pre-season is opening up, where is he? All over t.v. smiling like a Sambo telling everybody how happy he is. The basic idea is, Chad Johnson is weak of character, and has no backbone; he also just does things for attention.

Everyone knew that there was no chance that Johnson would a) not hold out, and b) show up on time to get into camp. He’s a joke, he’s not about anything, other than attention. Plain and simple, Chad Johnson is an attention whore. He wasn’t really unhappy, he just thought that people would take him seriously enough to listen to him, and when the organization flexed its muscle, he tucked his tail between his legs like a he-bitch and returned to the foot of the master.

The thing with Ownes is, he only causes disruptions when he’s truly unhappy, and most importantly, he deals with the consequences. When he was raising his whole stink about how little he was being paid over the middle part of his contract, the team threatened to shut him down for the season, but T.O. didn’t waiver. The Eagles shut Owens down, he took it to arbitration, and eventually won his release. You knew Chad Johnson would never take it to that, he’s just a loud talking court jester, who is genuinely afraid of management, and when all is said and done, will do whatever management tells him to do.

Chad Johnson doesn’t know what he wants other than for everyone to love him. He talks this whole game about he was “talking out of frustration and tired of losing.” My thing is, first of all, that’s bullshit. Johnson wasn’t tired of losing, he was tired of making less than $2.5M year, when he thought he was worth more. Fueling all of this was Larry Fitzgerald, Randy Moss, and Terrell Owens all being handed monstrous deals. If the Bengals had re-upped Johnson’s deal for much more money, he would have been smiling like the buffoon that he is.

So he can try to run this game on everyone that he only cares about winning, but that’s not at all true. Johnson cares about getting his money, and everyone slurping him and telling him how much they love him and need him. And this media stunt was just a ploy to get the Bengals to beg and plead with him, but the break out of Houshamazillah and the potential return of Henry let Johnson know that he’s not as important as he thinks he is.

Maybe I just don’t have a real appreciation for the pressures of the office of the General Manager of an NFL franchise, but I thought the end game was to win the Super Bowl. I also thought that the value of a Super Bowl was immeasurable, or at least incalculable. I thought Super Bowls were a lot the way some early philosophers (I think those of the Kantian variety) looked at the value of a human life. Nothing was worth more than a Super Bowl. However, more and more I’m seeing teams make moves “for the future,” and taking their current Super Bowl windows for granted.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that this is motivated by feelings of my franchise (The Cowboys) taking theirs window for granted. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I don’t think Jerry Jones isn’t doing a phenomenal job taking Dallas back to the top of the mountain, but I am saying that there are some moves that definitely could have been made that would have made Dallas the prohibitive favorite to win the Super Bowl. If I’m Jerry Jones, and I see the contract that Arizona just handed Larry Fitzgerald, and I see how offended Bolding got by it, I talk to the Cardinals, and give them WHATEVER they want for him. All this talk about we feel confident in Patrick Crayton’s abilities should stop; we saw where confidence in his abilities got us last year. I honestly would have given the Cardinals two firsts for Boldin. I know it sounds like a lot, but consider this, what do you need those draft picks for if you’re the Cowboys?

First round draft picks cost more and more every year, and especially when what you need is a wide receiver, it takes too long for them to develop. When you’re not concerned with overpaying consecutive first round picks, you can funnel the money you would have spent on them into giving Boldin a contract more commensurate with his talent and production. The point is, you never know when your window is going to close, and when you find yourself in a position to be no lower than the third best team in the league, and best in your conference you HAVE TO sell your soul to the devil. That means you completely sell out to win that Super Bowl. A team that got that idea was the Patriots, they understand that you’re not always going to be there and you have to treat every run as though it’s your last. That is why when they fell short to the Colts, they didn’t say “well we like where we’re at, and we’re just going to try harder next time.” They treated the situation like some third world rebels vying for emancipation; they went out and got western weapons (Randy Moss).

Just ask the Bears about how fast a Super Bowl window can close. After Rex Grossman handed the Colts that Super Bowl, the Bears should have gone out and done everything in their power to obtain McNabb from the Eagles. Instead, they figured they’d just keep trying with what they had and now look at them, they are now looking up at the Vikings and Packers, and wins against Detroit aren’t guaranteed either. From 13-3 to division cellar, that is how quickly it can happen.

A Super Bowl win takes unspeakable amounts of pressure off of a team (most notably the team leaders) and frankly it appeases the fans (for a while), it also allows you the time to really evaluate your team and replace necessary pieces without having to deal with media and fan scrutiny as to what you’re doing (see: NY Giants off loading all kinds of players with nary a word said). Winning the Super Bowl is the equivalent of tasting the rare berry that grows at the top of an “insurmountable” mountain; you would rather have tasted it, even if only once (Kurt Warner) than have been so painfully close, no matter how many times (Jim Kelly)

[It seems] The saga is over. Brett Favre is a now a New York Football Jet; with that, Chad Pennington has been handed his walking papers. Tell you the truth, this is probably best for Pennington. Props to the Jets for just giving Pennington an unencumbered release and letting him dictate the course of the rest of career…I’m not taking a shot Green Bay, I’m just saying; The Jets had decided what direction they were going in and within 24 hours, had everything straightened out. Favre goes to the Jets for a 4^th round pick which can escalate rounds all the way into a 1^st round pick if Favre plays 80% of the offensive snaps and the Jets make the Super Bowl. That’s all well and good, but what I think is key to note is the poison pill the Packers put into the agreement which would make the Jets forfeit three first round picks if they trade Favre to the Vikings…pretty smart if you ask me.

Now the question moves to where does Chad Pennington go? Now, if you’ve heard me rip the Bears for not making a move for Chris Simms or Byron Leftwich, and for passing on Flacco, Henne, Brohm and Booty, it would only seem to stand to reason that I would be in favor of Pennington signing with the Bears; not so much. It would be the Bears luck that the one “marquis” QB who becomes available is not at all suited to play for your team. Now, understand, that when I say that, I’m not saying that the Bears wouldn’t be a better team with Chad Pennington, because I believe they would. I’m just saying that it wouldn’t be an ideal situation for Chad, making it unlikely that a deal gets worked out there. Chicago is too cold and windy for Pennington’s surgically-reconstructed, mediocre-at-best arm; not to mention the absolute dearth of quality receivers and an unproven running game. Pennington to the Bears just doesn’t make any sense right now from his perspective, but from the Bears’, ANYTHING is better than the lower tier firm of Grossman & Orton MLP (Maximum Liability Partnership)

A really intriguing option from both player and franchise perspective would be the Vikings. The Vikings don’t have the most elite receiving corps in the league, but the absolute strength of the running game and offensive line more than makes up for it. The issues of Pennington’s lack of desirable arm strength are mitigated by the fact that Minnesota will play at least 9 games in a dome. Minnesota is also stacked on the defensive side of the ball and just smothers the run. Minnesota is a team just poised to strike in the NFC and they are one productive QB away from doing so. And all this talk about Pennington being a backup, I don’t understand, what about last season makes us think that Tarvaris Jackson is ready right now?

Obviously, there are the connections to Miami (drafted by Parcells) and Kansas City (played to win the game for Herm), but I really can’t call the probability of either of those. Personally, I think Kansas City makes a lot of sense. Brodie Croyle is not a lock to be a productive starter, and I think having Chad back there as a guy to push Croyle (that’s assuming Pennington doesn’t beat him out) would be great. If I was Chiefs management I would see about bringing Chad into the fold. Again, you have Larry Johnson and Jamaal Charles carrying the ball, and Tony Gonzales and Dwayne Bowe to catch it. Last I checked, the AFC West is pretty much “The Chargers and ‘em,” this would be a great move for the Kansas City to try to make a push in the AFC and try perhaps take one of the wildcard spots from either Jacksonville or Tennessee. The Dolphins make less sense. Even though their offensive line will be much better in run blocking, Jake Long is not quiiite there yet when it comes to pass protection. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams cannot necessarily be counted on to play a full season and if the Terry Glenn thing works out, that makes the Dolphins’ best receiver nothing more than a vertical threat so it doesn’t really bode well.

Teams I think should consider it, but won’t because it’s “too risky” in terms of fan and media perception are; the Arizona Cardinals and the Baltimore Ravens. The Cardinals are not ready to admit that they’re wrong with Matt Leinart (I’m not sold on him, if you can’t tell) , but I just feel as though you’re not going to have Boldin and Fitzgerald for that much longer and the NFC West is really not that good. Matter of fact, they wouldn’t even have to cut Leinart (they would have to let Warner go, but he’s 37 years old). I think if you cut Warner, and either Morelli or St. Pierre, and bring in Pennington, there’s a great chance he ends up starting, and with his accuracy, he could be a great stabilizing force under center for the Cardinals in a completely winnable division.

I thing the Ravens should make the move because any time you’re assessing your team’s situation, and it has you starting Kyle Boller, you’ve got a problem. I’m sure he’s a very nice young man, but as far as being a starter in the NFL, I’m fairly certain Boller has proven he can’t do that. I think with the sound fundamental approach and good decision making that Pennington brings to the QB position, he would put the Ravens in a great place as far as the QB position goes. Remember, the Ravens still have a great defense and playing Pennington until either Joe Flacco or Troy Smith are ready to take the reins is a far better situation than just leaving Smith and Flacco to their own devices, with nobody to learn from.

The Jets have been awful as of late, and I think Pennington has taken too much of the blame; he does play quarterback though, and that’s just the way it goes. I think this release from the Jets should be an opportunity for Chad to really be deliberate about where he signs. Pennington could be just enough of a game manager to put a decent just over the “contender hump.”

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In one of the most impressive manifestations of ignorance I have encountered in quite some time, Ron Artest explained that his charging into the stands was just him “representing his culture.” He then went on to say that Yao Ming has played with black players before, but has never played with “a black player who represents his culture as much as Artest does his.”

It is precisely this type of dumb shit that makes it harder and harder for black people to break free of the stereotypes that still plague us today. Not only do black people have to deal with stereotypes being imposed on us by those of other races, we also have to deal with ignorant blacks in positions of prominence perpetuating them. With these statements, Artest has essentially cast black culture in this county as one of perniciousness, lack of decorum, and emotional instability.

I guess I shouldn’t really be using the term “we” because those who know me, know that I am straight out of Cameroon, and am not African American. One of my African-American friends called me on this and said I was trying to distance myself from the African-American population; because when I told him about this, I said “Man, Artest just set African-Americans back quite a few decades.” I found this funny because it has typically been my experience that African-Americans only view us all as black people, when shit is hitting the fan or when something like this happens. I’m pretty sure I got made fun of (to my face) more by African-Americans than by any other group I could think of growing up. Made fun of mostly because I spoke differently, dressed differently, and thought differently. Let’s not even get into what happened once they found out I was African, then all the jokes about growing up with flies on my eyelids, running around naked, and throwing spears came out. I understand kids are mean, and frankly it didn’t really get to me, because I have a pretty strong apathetic sentiment when it comes to what others think of me; but all that time from my youth being reminded of how different I was, now I’m being accused of trying to distance myself.

I really do find it a bit risible. Ron Artest is ghetto, not only should I separate myself from him and his thoughts, EVERY black person in America should. This is a problem that is extremely pervasive in black America today; this idea that being “ghetto” or “hood” is a good thing. No it’s not, it’s in fact what keeps black people (I’m including the Africans that come over and adopt this ideology) from ever fully making the move out of second-class citizenry. Think about what being ghetto is; has anyone yet to find ONE positive or redeeming factor on society from people with a ghetto mentality? But yet we have guys like Artest (yes, I’ll say it, who young black kids look up to) purporting this idea of ghetto as if it’s something to be proud of.

As long as WE as a whole keep thinking that somehow being well educated, well adjusted and affable are just for white people, we as black people are going to be a long ways off from overcoming in this country. So yes, I’m not like Ron Artest, and I’m proud of that; but what must be noted is that I didn’t create the distance, it was created for me, and I can’t be more grateful.

In case you hadn’t heard, Devin Hester was blessed with a 4 year, $30M contract by Bears management a few days ago. I really didn’t know what to make of it, so rather than think on it myself, I went to one of my best friends, closest associates, and wartime consigliere (he also happens to be the biggest Bears fan I know), to see what his thoughts were. I sent him a one line e-mail that read “$30M for Hester…thoughts?”. And in a brazen maneuver of convenience sampling, I will take his opinions as the uncontested, consensus view of the ursine nation. Enjoy.

Well, here’s my whole take on the Bears paying big money to both Hester and Urlacher. Is it the best use of money? probably not.

BUT…

The Bears do not operate like Jones and the Cowboys. Jerry Angelo is not going to stiff Urlacher and Hester so he can spend money on something else to make the team better (look at our QB’s and WR’s). So, it’d be one thing if he was going to say, “we’re not gonna pay these guys because we’re going out to get other players who will make us better.” If Hester doesn’t play Rashied Davis will take over for him.

Also, I think Chicago sports fans are different than in other towns. They LOVE Urlacher and the REALLY LOVE Hester. And they HATE the Bears management. And they’re used to losing, so if we’re gonna lose at least we should be able to watch Hester. So they did what they had to do. If the Bears had other options at WR, they might have some leverage. The truth is, he’s our best option even though he has a huge potential to bust at WR. Our WR’s right now are Rashied Davis, Marty Booker, Brandon Lloyd, and Mark Bradley. Pretty pathetic.

And, like we were talking about the other day. You said he only scored 6 or 7 TD’s last year. But I looked this up the Bears offense scored 26 TD’s and 31 FG’s. So, when you figure Hester had 6 TD’s that more than anyone else on the Bears other than Griese who threw for 10. How many of those FG’s were the result of Hester brining it back 40-50 yards so the offense could go three and out and kick a field goal? Hester lead the NFL in TD’s and punt returns of 20+ and 40+ yards, so probably more than a few.

I guess that’s my take. I’m glad they signed him and he’ll play, but the Bears obviously don’t care about winning since they won’t sign a real QB or WR. So if they overpay Hester, so be it.

I was reading a post on mgoblog.com where the author predicts an all maize uniform for our “big” games. And without seeing it, I’m not really going to comment, I actually could see how it would work given the right design. However, if I had to design an alternate uniform for us to wear, I would go with what I like to call the “hyper-whites.” We would don white jerseys with white pants, white socks, and (are you sitting down?) white cleats. The white cleats are absolutely critical to tie the whole aesthetic together. I know that both Oregon and Texas have hyper-whites, but I don’t think anyone could legitimately claim that we would be copying them if we unveiled one. Essentially, if Oregon and Texas’ hyper whites are fresh, mu’fuckah, ours would be RIPE[1].

Oregon tries too hard to be different, plus they’ve got that weird font for numbers (which I’m sure serves to emphasize physique…O-Line?). Texas does have the advantage in the sense that their helmets are predominantly white, but I think we could overtake them with some key design nuances on the jerseys. What would really dictate the aesthetic appeal would be the color of the numbers. At first I thought we could roll with yellow-excuse me-maize numbers outlined by blue, but then I realized that the maize and white would not be distinguishable enough, and it would take away from the white. So we go the other way (and get all the panties in Happy Valley in a bunch) and go with blue numbers with no trim. Where Texas has “TEXAS” printed above the numbers, we will just have the block ‘M’. There would be smaller block ‘M’s on the shoulder pads (facing up) and smaller numbers on the sleeves (facing out). As stated above, the pants would be all white, but real white, not that bathhouse see through that Miami broke out a couple of years ago; and there would be small, blue adidas logo on one of the front hips, probably the right. The idea of the white cleats is imported from world class soccer players. If you pay attention, only the most flamboyant wear white cleats. That would add just the right amount of flamboyance[2].

I’m perfectly happy with our uni situation as it stands, but if I had to add one alternate for the Notre Dame and Ohio State games, it would be a hyper white. Sorry MSU, but you don’t wear your dress whites to give your little brother a wet willie–where would you wipe your finger? Nothing else really conveys that sense of gangster like all white. Think about it; LeBron James on draft day? All white. The KFC Colonel? All white. That one guy in the Yakuza from the Simpsons episode where Marge got help from the mob for her pretzel business? All white. You get the idea.

Huge news out of Arizona. Anquan Boldin has instructed his agent not to negotiate with the Arizona Cardinals. Not only did the Cardinals hand Larry Fitzgerald a contract so big that it made re-signing Boldin an impossibility, they did that after promising Boldin that they would give him a new contract before this season, but apparently this has been too long for Boldin, and he has decided that he will not re-sign with the Cardinals.

CHA-CHING!! Enter stage left, Jerrel Wayne Jones. Turns out, after the preliminary attempts to trade for him failed, the circumstances have changed; although not that favorably. The Cardinals know that they can just sit on Boldin for the next three years, though, and that he’s not going anywhere unless they trade him. That’s why the Cowboys have to come up with a big offer to get the Cardinals to part ways with the potential headache that it’s going to be if Anquan potentially holds out, or doesn’t report next season. Especially since we just waived Terry Glenn. Glenn has been trying to strong arm an extra $1.2M out of the Cowboys, by holding out on signing a $500K injury waiver. Everyone forgets the Cowboys put together that 13-3 season without Glenn, so he shouldn’t overstate his importance to the team. Patrick Crayton was the goat last season, his teammates know it, management knows it, the fans know it, and most importantly, he knows it. If Crayton is at all the competitor we would assume one has to be to make it to the NFL, he’s been gnashing his teeth all off-season. If anything, Crayton is probably hoping that Glenn doesn’t sign the waiver and that Jones goes ahead and perhaps trades him so that Crayton can get his opportunity to redeem himself.

Boldin is 27 right now, and will presumably be 30 by the time his contract with Arizona expires. Though I would love for Dallas to keep trying to acquire him now, it might not be the worst thing in the world to just acquire him as a free agent when his contract with the Cardinals expires. With the approximately $60M Jones has doled out this off-season, he might not have the money to fit Boldin in with Owens’, Barber’s, and Newman’s new contracts; not to mention Chris Canty still needs to be re-signed at some point, not to mention if Adam Jones can keep his nose clean, he’ll be up for a new one too.

The Cardinals probably wouldn’t trade him before the next two years, as there is no real need to part with him before they have to. They will probably trade Boldin right before the beginning of his last season to prevent him walking out free & clear. The $40M contract Larry Fitzgerald is feeding his family with has pretty much made it a certainty that Boldin will be done in Arizona. Just for the record, I am on Boldin’s side of this matter, I mean the guy is just as good, if not better than Fitzgerald, but somehow he’s only scheduled to make $8.4M over the next three seasons, while Fitzgerald is scheduled to make $40M over the next four. Boldin is not being petulant, he just realizes that the Cardinals have made their decision, and he is ready to move on; but he plans on honoring the rest of his contract. Boldin is like a parent who has resolved to stay in a bad marriage for the sake of the children; but as soon as the last one goes to college, it’s a wrap.

If Jones can get his hands on Boldin at anytime before the contract expires, a la Brewers with Sabathia, maybe, just maybe he can get Boldin to fall in love with the Cowboy family and resign for a slight discount. If not, Boldin is going to be a very, very rich man after after his 30^th birthday. Boldin has the size, speed, hands and agility to be a dominant wide receiver in this league. Even with missing 4 games last season, Boldin pulled down 71 balls for 853 yards and 9 happy endings, and that’s sharing with Fitzgerald.

Fact is, we have our first marquis drama thread for next off-season, and the way money’s been flying around at the wide receiver position (Moss, Owens, and Walker), one thing is certain; Boldin’s got his popcorn ready.

Far be it from me to tell an NFL franchise how to run its team, but let tell the Philadelphia Eagles that they have squandered the career of Donovan McNabb. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all Lurie and Reid’s fault, McNabb didn’t help himself when he picked up a pitchfork and helped management run T.O. out of town, but he doesn’t make the personnel decisions either. Maybe I’m spoiled by having an owner like Jerrel Wayne Jones, but to watch the Eagles clip their own wings is only risible because they’re a division rival.

You look at the rest of the division, Jones has put together a gem in Dallas, The ‘Skins have hard-nosed defense has mastered the art of playing ugly, which keeps them in every game and renders them incapable of losing more than seven games in any given season, and The Gigantes are the defending Super Bowl Champs, which means they can do WHATEVER they want for the next three years. Philly went 8-8 last year and was the ONLY team in the division not to make the playoffs, yet they act as if this is the NFC East of the early 00s. They think they can just stick McNabb & Westbrook on the field and go 11-5. Maybe Reid hasn’t noticed with his kids’ insane drug problems, but the NFC isn’t the same conference it used to be.

Let’s start within the division, for the second consecutive year three out of four teams in the division made the playoffs. The Cowboys are the “class” of the division. I put class in quotes because it doesn’t really matter in the playoffs, NFC East teams are not intimidated by their division rivals in the playoffs, so I mean it’s great to have the Cowboys be the best team in the division but trust when I say that I would rather face ANYONE else in the NFC than a divisional foe in the playoffs. Nevertheless, the Cowboys set a league record with 13 Pro Bowlers last season, and there’s no reason to expect those players to repeat next season, since none of those seasons were that eye-popping. The Cowboys got Ken Hamlin resigned and drafted one of the consensus top four DBs in the draft, Mike Jenkins, who has the versatility to play corner or safety. Then the Cowboys add Adam Jones, who has proved himself to be a competent #2 CB, and if he can get himself back into game shape, and refrain from the rain dancers the secondary looks to be even more formidable. Everyone says, “yeah, but what about a #2 receiver?” Don’t forget Dallas played all last season without Terry Glenn, now whether he signs the waiver and comes back healthy is another issue. The Cowboys add Zach Thomas, and draft Martellus Bennett and Felix Jones as rookies who will fill the “voids” left by Anthony Fasano and Julius Jones. All in all, the Cowboys are a better team than last year.

As I said before, the Giants are the defending Super Bowl Champines and are “off the hook” for at least this season. However, you still have to worry about whether last season was just a fluke for Eli, or whether something has clicked for him. If it is the latter, then the division just got a serious headache, especially if he keeps Plaxico Burress. When you consider the production the Giants got from their rookies like Bradshaw and Steve Smith, it’s kind of worrisome to think that theoretically they should only get better, unless they catch the Michael Claytons disease. You want to bring up their “losses,” but when you think about it, who did they really lose besides Strahan? Yeah, they just traded Shockey, but in case you forgot they went on that run without him. That defensive line will still be one of the most formidable defensive fronts in the league, the pass rush should be fine with the loss of Strahan, they still have Justin Tuck, Mathias Kiwanuka (who I presume has learned not to let go), and 1-800-Osi-Ocean. Kawika Mitchell just flat out wasn’t that good, and I think Kenny Phillips will replace Gibril Wilson just fine. Verdict: Giants are a touch worse than they were last year simply because they lost Strahan, and that was just another horse to rotate in and keep the pass rush fresh.

Washington took a huge step forward with landing Jason Taylor. The day they lost both defensive ends, the ‘Skins land the most prolific sack artist in the league since 2000, I believe. Jason Taylor alone makes the rest of Washington’s defense better. JT Money just brings straight heat and that’s all there is to it. The offense has shown how explosive it can be, and what’s more, it has shown that it doesn’t much matter whether Jason Campbell or Todd Collins is in there calling the plays. Clinton Portis will be the horse he always is in the backfield and that’s all there is to it. Don’t let any of the three pass catchers the ‘Skins drafted pan out early and the ‘Skins are definitely in a position to win more than three games in the division.

However, when you look at Philly, what have they done? It’s almost as if they’ve been purposely squandering McNabb’s career because they know the fans never liked him (which is pretty unfair to him, have they forgotten that they wanted Ricky Williams?) and management knows they will never be blamed for the Eagles’ short comings. Let’s look at it though, who does McNabb have on that team? When you look at the tools McNabb has around, nobody is the best at their position in the division. LJ Smith? Nope. Brian Westbrook? I don’t think so; Portis is better than Westbrook if you want to go just straight up best RB in the division, but if you want to talk about entire running platoons, the Eagles come in last. Let’s not even talk about wide receiver, last is an understatement. You could take away every other team in the division’s top wide receiver, and Philly still wouldn’t necessarily be the best. With all those legitimate receivers sitting there in the draft begging to be drafted, the eagles went with DeSean Jackson, a punt returner. They better pray that ESPN airs some games on ABC, because that’s the only time I saw Jackson show up to play in college. Westbrook hasn’t played a full season in lord knows how long (neither has McNabb) but the Eagles seem content on their past accomplishments; beating up on the NFC when it was still just a JV League.

The Saints have become a top flight team in the conference, thanks to the offensive genius of Sean Payton and the resurrection of Brees. Bush should play better if Deuce McAllister comes back healthy. Add Shockey to an already loaded offense, and Jonathan Vilma (yeah) to anchor that defense, and I think it stands to reason placing the Saints ahead of the Eagles. The Panthers had an awful season last year, but they did also play it without Jake Delhomme, and mark my words, they’re back up Matt Moore will eventually be a quality starting quarterback in this league. If I’m the Bears, I offer a first or second round pick for the kid. He was Dallas’ 3^rd signal caller during Parcels’ last pre-season, but everyone knows Parcels only carries 2. Either way, Carolina will be back to reassert themselves in the conference. Throw in what should be a resurgent St. Louis squad, an overachieving Tampa Bay, a consistent Seattle, a stout Green Bay and a potent-at-every-position-but-quarterback Viking team, and Philly is not really looking at that manageable a season.

Back when their defense had the players to make Jim Johnson’s defensive scheme seen unbreakable, and McNabb, Owens (for 21 games) and Westbrook were making football look as easy as it was in the playground, the Eagles didn’t really have to worry, but now, most of their stars are gone, and the ones who are left are no longer as radiant as they once shone. Yes they added Asante Samuel, but why? They’re just going to lose Lito Sheppard because of it, and the kind of money they’ve given Samuel will prevent them from really bringing in any other defensive stars. Add to that the fact now that EVERY team in the division (except them) has a pass rusher capable of logging 16 sacks next season, McNabb is in for a long one, but hey, he’s been hearing it in Philly since he was drafted, I guess it is true the more things change, the more they stay the same.

+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.