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March 2008
Falcons get additional third-round pick
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PALM BEACH, Fl. — Compensatory draft picks were awarded by the NFL today and Atlanta received one of the highest selections allotted.
The Falcons got the 35th pick of the third round - the third compensatory pick after the first 32 selections. That will essentially give them two picks in the third round, increasing their three-round total to six, and 11 picks overall. There might not be a team that wields more desirable draft picks than Atlanta, which has four selection in the top 48, including the No. 3 overall selection, for the April 26-27 draft.
As for what compensatory picks are, teams are awarded draft picks based on the caliber of free agents they lost compared to the caliber of free agents they acquired the year before. The Falcons got such a lofty pick because if lost free agents Patick Kerney (Seattle), Justin Griffith (Oakland) and Ashley Lelie (San Francisco) and signed Ovie Mughelli and Lewis Sanders.
In other developments, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell just held a media briefing and touched on several issues that are being discussed at the league’s annual meetings this week. None of them have been voted upon or ratified but most will be over the next few days.
The most interesting news revolved around suspended cornerback Adam “Pac Man” Jones, who is from Atlanta. With Dallas and Tennessee discussing a trade that would make Jones a member of the Cowboys, Goodell was asked if he had decided to lift his indefinite suspension of Jones, whose array of personal conduct violations prompted Goodell to suspend him for all of last season. “I have made no…promises,” Goodell said. Goodell said there is no prohibition of teams trading the rights to suspended players, as long as the team receiving the suspended player knows that player could remain suspended until the commissioner lifts the ban. Goodell said he would render a decision on Jones before training camp in the fall.
Goodell said he’s also following the status of suspended Cincinnati Bengals and former Georgia linebacker Odell Thurman, who Goodell disciplined last season after a series of off-field violations. Goodell sounded positive about Thurman’s progress although he gave no indication if he would lift the ban. Like Jones, he cited training camp as the timetable to render a decision.
An issue that has brought about tremendous discussion but could be tabled to a later date, is a proposal by the K.C. Chiefs that players hair can not be so long that it covers their name or numerals on the back of their jerseys.
Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said players would not be asked to cut their hair but to cap it or tuck it in. He said the impetus for the proposal was not safety related but image related. Goodell said that he spoke with NFL Players Association head Gene Upshaw about the proposal and said that he would speak to him again before a final decision is rendered. Thus, it is unlikely this issue will come up for vote at these meetings, which end Thursday.
Regarding the potential labor standoff that could be sparked by owners opting out of the current collective bargaining agreement in November, Goodell said that he hoped things wouldn’t get ugly. However, owners are having a harder time meeting all the economic demands because of increased compensation to players and the economic downturn, which has made operating a franchise and stadiums far most costly, Goodell said.
If the labor pact is broken, the possibility that the 2010 season could be played without a salary cap is possible. That could result in a baseball like structure, where some teams could spend with little regard while others could run their operations on a shoestring budget. That could make things competitively imbalanced, which is something the NFL doesn’t want.
One thing that has been discussed regarding the labor pact is trying to implement a cap on rookie salaries. Goodell said that not only could limit costs to paying unproven players but the bigger salaries could go to veterans that have earned the money.
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NFL meetings underway; new GM in demand
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PALM BEACH, Fl. - I’m here at the NFL’s annual meetings, where just about every league official and coach is in attendance - including New England coach Bill Belichick.
The interesting thing about Belichick’s presence is the theme for most of these meetings is integrity and establishing trust in the league - a theme that was spurred in large part by Spygate, in which Belichick’s Patriots were punished for video taping the Jets defensive signals.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank, coach Mike Smith, GM Thomas Dimitroff and president Rich McKay are representing the local team. Dimitroff has been in high demand by the national media, in part because with four draft picks in the top 48, Atlanta could be a major navigator in shaping the April 26-27 draft.
I’ll be spending some time with Dimitroff in the next few days and will provide updates on some of the topics we’ll discuss, which hopefully will include Jason Elam, the quarterback situation, replacing D-Hall and the draft.
I spent Sunday hanging with Smith, who in his new role as head coach got put through the coaching gauntlet - a 2 1/2-hour, 7-station drill in which he had to model league apparel for its fashion catalog, interview with NFL Films and shoot commercials for NFL Network. My story and Jason Getz’s great photo display will appear in the AJC and AJC.com on Wednesday, I believe.
I’ll be blogging through these meetings to update you on some of the rules and policy changes being discussed. The key topics - players’ hair length, a sideline-to-helmet communication device and playoff re-seeding (wild card teams with better records than division champs could be allowed to host first-round playoff games).
There also will be a wealth of talk about labor harmony/disharmony between NFL owners and the NFL Players Association. The owners have given indications that, in November, they will opt out of the collective bargaining agreement that they reached with the union at the 11th hour in 2006. If discord arises, there will be no salary cap starting in 2010 if there is a season. The typical labor banter of lockouts and strikes could arise.
To continue this conversation, click here for Steve Wyche’s updated blog.
Who will replace D-Hall?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
D-Hall could be in the Silver and Black by the end of the week, Jason Elam might come back home to kick after 15 seasons in Denver and Keith Brooking will return to middle linebacker for a third straight season.
With the recent developments with the Birds, the most talked about has been the likely trade of two-time Pro Bowl cornerback DeAngelo Hall to Oakland for second and sixth-round picks in this draft. The Raiders and Falcons have agreed on the trade but since Hall is entering the final year of his contract, he wants a new deal in place - as do the Raiders.
They don’t want to trade away two draft picks (the first being the 34th overall choice) for a one-year player and Hall wants to get P.A.I.D.
Once those terms are agreed upon, and they should be in the next few days, Hall will be the latest member of a team that, in 2004, went to the NFC championship game. As a side note, only Brooking and offensive linemen Kynan Forney, Todd Weiner and Todd McClure remain key contributors from that squad.
The biggest question regarding the Hall trade might not be who Atlanta takes with the picks it gains from the trade, but who is going to play that cornerback spot.
The Falcons just signed Houston free agent Von Hutchins but they want him more as a nickel back/safety. Second-year player David Irons and third-year player Brent Grimes are possibilities - Irons made a huge impression last season - but the eventual starter might not be on the roster right now.
The Falcons would save just more than $3 million by moving Hall, which would help create more space under the camp to use in a variety of ways. Whether that player would be a rookie or someone acquired in a trade/free agency, a lot would be asked of him, especially with the pass rush still a concern with help needed at defensive tackle and end Jamaal Anderson still developing.
That high second-round pick Atlanta could receive could be used to nab the quarterback they need or someone like Oklahoma middle linebacker Curtis Lofton. Atlanta could also parlay that pick into a mid-first rounder and nab the best available cornerback to replace Hall.
Regarding Elam, the Brookwood product is coming to Atlanta Wednesday for a visit. Based on how things have gone so far, this won’t an wasted fly by. The free agents the Falcons have brought in, they’ve pretty much signed. Elam has been one of the better kickers in the NFL for 15 years and at 38, he’s still nearly a decade younger than 47-year-old Morten Andersen.
Andersen has been automatic inside the 42/43 but the Falcons want to explore getting a stronger-accurate leg, which could be important since touchdowns might be hard to come by again with the offense being rebuilt.
Defensively, Brooking has been slated to play middle linebacker again, according to defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. The five-time Pro Bowler would prefer to play as the weak side outside linebacker but because of the lack of MLBs in free agency and the draft, Brooking likely will end up in the middle.
That could change if Atlanta were able to draft Lofton or someone of his ilk. However, another reason Brooking is being kept in the middle is to get second-year linebacker Stephen Nicholas on the field. Nicholas was on the verge of replacing former WLB Demorrio Williams until Nicholas suffered a high ankle sprain that basically relegated him to being a special teams player.
Moves show team sticking to philosophy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Falcons’ recent signing of three defensive tackles, including former Carolina Panthers backup Kindal Moorehead, added depth to a need position and continued Atlanta’s economically streamlined free-agent approach.
The Falcons haven’t spent big in free agency - TB Michael Turner did sign a $34.5 million, 6-year deal, which is still relatively inexpensive for a starting tailback - or added a player who consistently started last season. That shows that new GM Thomas Dimitroff and coach Mike Smith are sticking to their philosophy of building through the draft and adding role players via free agency.
Using that approach, don’t be shocked if Atlanta trades down from the No. 3 spot in the April 26-27 draft to accumulate more selections later in the process. The Falcons have to bolster the offensive and defensive lines, middle linebacker and depth at nearly every position except for tailback. In adding at least one more relatively high draft pick and either a player or additional draft pick by coming off the No. 3 selection, Atlanta could get more talent at solid value.
That said, adding a stud player to anchor the offensive or defensive lines - like Michigan LT Jake Long or LSU DT Glenn Dorsey - might also go a long way in hastening the rebuilding process. Cleveland’s fortunes changed overnight with LT Joe Thomas keeping people off QB Derek Anderson and TB Jamal Lewis.
In terms of the additional defensive tackles that were recently signed, don’t take that as a signal that the Falcons might move off Dorsey. Those players have to make the roster, first off. They also are not viewed necessarily as starters, particularly at nose tackle, where Dorsey likely would play in the 4-3 front. Projected starter Trey Lewis could be down for awhile after re-injuring his torn ACL a few weeks ago and the Falcons have shown no interest at this point of bringing back Grady Jackson. Jackson could be in play if the Falcons don’t draft Dorsey. Then again, he might already have a job with another team by then.
In other news, Atlanta is expected to re-sign QB Joey Harrington this week after cutting him last week. Harrington would come back on a re-structured deal that would create some space under the salary cap. Harrington’s retention would signal a few things:
1) The jury is still out on Chris Redman and D.J. Shockley. Redman played well for four games but there are 16 over the course of a season, so who knows if he is for real. Shockley, meanwhile, is still recovering from a torn ACL sustained last preseason. Even before he got hurt, there was no guarantee that he would have beat out Redman for the backup job.
2) The veteran free agent pool is really shallow. Daunte Culpepper, Tim Rattay and some of the other available veterans haven’t seemed to get the Falcons’ too excited.
3) The Falcons won’t play a young quarterback right away. Atlanta would prefer easing a young player into the lineup, if at all, during his rookie season, which isn’t a bad way to go while you’re trying to solidify an offensive line.
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