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To say that the Green Bay Packers have dramatically overhauled the wide
receiver corps, a gamble by coach Mike Sherman to cast out some demons and
perhaps create more big play chances for quarterback Brett Favre in 2002,
would be an incredible understatement.
This spring, Green Bay has lost its top three wideouts of a year go, with
Bill Schroeder and Corey Bradford departing as unrestricted free agents and
Antonio Freeman released earlier this week after he declined to accept a
salary reduction. That trio represented 89 percent of the catches, 92
percent of the yards and 89 percent of the touchdowns posted by Packers wide
receivers in 2001.
|  | | Terry Glenn caught only 14 passes last season for the Patriots. |
By contrast, the top five wide receivers on the current Green Bay roster --
Terry Glenn, Robert Ferguson, 2002 first-round draft choice Javon Walker,
Donald Driver and Charles Lee -- totaled 30 receptions, 403 yards and three
touchdowns last season. The enigmatic Glenn, being counted on to not only
behave himself but also to stretch the field with his superior deep speed,
led the way with 14 catches.
And he was playing, or, more accurately, not playing very much, in New
England.
In his first two seasons, Sherman has done a terrific job in Green Bay, so
we're not about to question the wide receiver shakeup. Freeman's
productivity, after all, has declined each of the last three seasons.
Schroeder was moody, often times sloppy in his routes, could be
mean-spirited at times, and frequently irked Favre with his on- and
off-field demeanor. Bradford was the habitual "tease," a young player with
undeniable skills and potential, one who would make your eyes bug out with a
great catch, but was often injured.
Hey, sometimes the addition-by-subtraction approach is a good one, right?
On the flip side, it would be naïve to suggest that the Packers won't suffer
some growing pains with the new wide receiver group, and that Favre and this
revamped contingent of pass-catchers will always be on the same page. That
might be, in part, why Favre fought to keep Freeman on the roster. In the
NFL, after all, familiarity typically breeds success and not contempt.
Suffice it to say Favre and the Packers wide receivers will need every
"repetition" they can get together in minicamps and training camp to neatly
dovetail their skills. Whether they can pull it off figures to be one of the
most intriguing camp stories to follow.
Glenn must rehabilitate his game and his image. A second-round choice in the
'01 draft, and a player Sherman desperately wanted, Ferguson played in just
one game as a rookie and is still seeking his first regular-season catch.
The Packers paid a steep price to trade up in this year's draft to snatch
Walker, and by all accounts he has done well in the spring drills, but
rookie wide receivers rarely make much impact in the league. Driver and Lee
are much like Bradford, young players with potential, but little production.
In fact, the Packers attempted to trade Driver after choosing Walker in the
first round.
Favre still has superb tailback Ahman Green, whose 62 catches in 2001 ranked
seventh among NFL running backs, and who has 135 receptions in two years as
a starter. Tight end Bubba Franks had nine touchdown catches, more than any
player at his position. It isn't as if the cupboard is bare.
But there is a reason Sherman scrapped his incumbent wide receiver corps for
a new one. The Packers certainly are among the handful of viable Super Bowl
contenders for 2002. And they are counting mightily on the new wideouts to
help get them there.
Around the league
In the wake of the Tuesday evening addition of free agent tailback Richard
Huntley, there has been plenty of speculation the Buffalo Bills will trade
Shawn Bryson, a three-year veteran coveted by a few other clubs. There
hasn't been much trade talk between the Bills and teams interested in
acquiring Bryson, but know this: There has been some. Not that anything is
on the front burner yet, because the discussions haven't moved to the
substantive stage, but that could change in coming weeks. Despite denials,
there was at least one exploratory chat with the Philadelphia Eagles about
Bryson, and New Orleans also has an interest in him. While the Eagles
continue to put on a good front, and publicly suggest that either Rod ("He
Hate Me") Smart or third-round pick Brian Westbrook are viable candidates to
fill the vacancy created by Correll Buckhalter's season-ending knee injury,
most teams officials realize they need an experienced No. 2 back behind the
enigmatic Duce Staley. In New Orleans, there is very little behind Deuce
McAllister, who still must prove himself to Saints officials and the rest of
the league as a starter. Bryson is just 25 years old, has been productive
when he plays (two 100-yard outings in three starts at the end of the 2001
season), and is long over the knee injury that sidelined him for his entire
1999 rookie campaign. With Huntley augmenting a position that
already includes starter Travis Henry and former starter Sammy Morris, there
has to be an odd-man out. And increasingly, it appears that man will be
Bryson, assuming that some team is willing to meet the Bills' asking price.
Just an educated hunch but, even though the Arizona Cardinals maintain they
will not be a player in the post-June 1 free agent market, make them the
unofficial front-runner in the Marco Coleman sweepstakes. Even if
second-year veteran Kyle Vanden Bosch comes back from the knee injury
which wrecked his 2001 rookie season after just three games, the
Cardinals need help at end. Arizona official Rod Graves has contacted agent Jack
Reale about Coleman, more a fact-finding mission to gauge his contract
demands, and it is a good bet the two men will speak again. Meanwhile,
strike the Eagles from the roster of potential Coleman suitors. There are a
few Philly veterans, like cornerback Troy Vincent, lobbying for the Eagles
to add Coleman to the front four. But management has displayed no
inclination to this point and, truth be told, probably won't. Team officials
believe that second-year veteran Derrick Burgess, a third-round selection in
2001, is ready for more playing time. The Redskins would love to get Coleman
back, after releasing him to save $3.5 million on their 2002 cap, and
insiders tell ESPN.com some Washington officials are actually smug about the
team's chances of re-signing him in a slow market. It's not out of the realm
of possibility Coleman would consider heading back to Washington, but those
high-ranking team officials are unrealistic if they think he's returning for
the NFL minimum $750,000 base salary they offered him before his release.
Recent history has demonstrated the early "spring grades" disseminated to
subscriber teams by the National and Blesto scouting combines usually mean
very little by the time the following year's draft rolls around. Notable in
this spring's National report, though, is the grade that the combine has
assigned to University of Texas quarterback Chris Simms. The son of former
Giants star Phil Simms has a 5.5 grade and there are five seniors with
better ratings. The passers with grades of 5.0 or better on National's
nine-point scale are: Byron Leftwich (Marshall), 6.7; Ken Dorsey (Miami),
6.5; Dave Ragone (Louisville), 6.5; Brian St. Pierre (Boston College), 6.4;
Seneca Wallace (Iowa State), 5.8; Simms, 5.5; Kyle Boler (California), 5.4;
Carson Palmer (Southern Cal), 5.4; Marquel Blackwell (South Florida), 5.3;
Daniel Cobb (Auburn), 5.0; Jason Thomas (Nevada-Las Vegas), 5.0; and Justin
Wood (Portland State), 5.0.
All the speculation that the Atlanta Falcons were creating cap space by
releasing Jamal Anderson and backup tailback Rodney Thomas so they
could acquire a proven deep threat for Michael Vick this year? Forget about
it. The talk that personnel chief Ron Hill, who worked with Keenan McCardell
in Jacksonville, would have the inside track in the recruiting wars for the
veteran wideout? Never mind. The Falcons haven't made even a cursory phone
call on any of the high-profile receivers released this week. And while
there is some consternation in Atlanta over the wideout inertia, the reluctance to invest in an older receiver is
actually an enlightened bit of thinking by Falcons officials. Too often in
recent seasons, the Falcons brought in older wide receivers, guys past their
prime. And too often those players failed to produce. In the big picture, it
seems Atlanta would prefer now to develop some young receivers in-house and
that's not an altogether bad thing for a team that has flopped with the
band-aid approach in the past. The coaches are intrigued by lanky three-year
veteran Brian Finneran, who has a 17.9-yard career average. But someone is going to have
to step up from a group of kids that includes Quentin McCord, Shawn Mills,
Mareno Philyaw and low-round draft picks Kahlil Hill and Michael Coleman to
provide a deep threat. If not, the Falcons will just wait until 2003 and
draft a wideout in the first round. It's easy, of course, to criticize
Atlanta for not doing exactly that in the 2002 draft. But truth be told, the
Falcons aren't going to contend for a playoff spot this year, and Vick isn't
going to lead this team to a winning record even if he had a Derrick
Alexander or Antonio Freeman or McCardell chasing down his lasers. Better to
give the youngsters a chance, perhaps, than to bank on a broken-down
veteran.
Conspicuously absent from much of the Atlanta offseason conditioning
program has been tailback Warrick Dunn, who must be off spending some of
that $6.5 million signing bonus new owner Arthur Blank awarded him. Dan Reeves is a stickler for offseason
participation and can't be thrilled at Dunn's absences. This is a guy, after
all, who is forcing Reeves to revamp his offensive playbook. Dunn is the
player who is supposed to serve as catalyst for a new and quicker approach.
Suffice it to say, Atlanta officials had hoped to see a bit more of him this
spring.
Veteran offensive lineman Glenn Parker hasn't publicly uttered the "R-word"
yet. But the venerable blocker, released by the New York Giants last week
after he failed a team physical, is likely to retire after a dozen seasons. His knees are "bone-on-bone" and, while
the spirit is willing to try to gut it out for another season or two, Parker
simply can't get the job done in his current state. Parker, 36, likely would
have drawn some interest from teams like the Redskins. Even though some
'Skins officials insist they are OK at guard, sources tell us the untested
David Loverne isn't the answer on the left side, and Rod Jones is overweight
on the right side. But getting Parker wouldn't solve the problem in
Washington, either, not given his physical state. Parker might wait another
month or so to see how his knees feel but the smart money is that he will
gracefully exit the game.
One quarterback currently playing in the NFL Europe League, and worth
keeping an eye on, is Todd Husak of the Berlin Thunder. The former Stanford
star has completed 171 of 291 passes for 2,008 yards, with 12 touchdown
passes, 10 interceptions and a quarterback rating of 79.2. He leads the
springtime league in attempts, completions, yards and also touchdown passes
and has seemed to make solid strides overseas. Husak is interesting, in
addition, because of his situation with the Denver Broncos, the team which
allocated him to the NFL Europe League. Because of Brian Griese's off-field
woes, the Broncos might be forced to keep veteran Steve Beuerlein, bad elbow
and all, around as an insurance policy. And the coaches seem to like another
former NFL Europe product, third-year pro Jarious Jackson, which could make
it difficult for Husak to make the roster. If he is cut, teams would be wise
to take a look at Husak. He has good size, a decent arm, plenty of smarts.
There are some people who feel that then-coach Marty Schottenheimer gave up
way too early on Husak last year, when he released him. This isn't to
suggest Husak will ever be a star in the NFL, but that he could be a solid
career backup.
Sources in Pittsburgh tell us that the team's interest in free agent wide
receiver Herman Moore, who will visit with coaches and club officials next
Tuesday, is primarily as a "red zone" receiver. The team reasons that
pairing Moore (6-feet-4, 224 pounds) with Plaxico Burress (6-5 ½, 229)
inside the opposition 20-yard line would cause all kinds of matchup problems
for most secondaries. The aim would be to maximize the snaps for Moore, who
has appeared in just 26 games over the last three seasons and has but 60
receptions in that stretch. Moore would almost certainly have to play for
the veteran minimum base salary of $750,000 but, given his recent history
and the lack of widespread interest in him, that's about the best he's going
to do anywhere at age 32.
Just because he survived the first round of post-June 1 purges doesn't mean
Cincinnati wide receiver Darnay Scott is safe yet. Bengals owner Mike Brown
is going to be very interested in seeing the contracts that other jettisoned
wide receivers get in the current market and comparing them to Scott's
current deal. Scott, who has made himself scarce the past month, is
scheduled to earn $2.55 million in base salary. He can make a workout bonus
of $150,000 and is due a roster bonus of $500,000 on Sept. 1. Chances are
good that, at some point before camp begins, Brown will ask Scott to reduce
his compensation. Waiting for another month shifts the leverage to the team,
since Scott might have a tough time finding a commensurate deal late in the
summer, when other teams are settled on their camp rosters.
After essentially "redshirting" his first-round draft choice for more than
a month, Skins coach Steve Spurrier finally allowed quarterback Patrick
Ramsey expanded work during this week's on-field sessions. And the verdict?
The former Tulane star, in terms of both mental grasp and throwing accuracy,
was dramatically improved. For the first time since selecting Ramsey, the
"ol' ball coach" actually provided the youngster a glimmer of hope he could
still win the starting job in training camp. Spurrier sidled up to Ramsey
and told him he'll start the best player opening day. Of course, in the
world of NFL subjectivity, that probably means either Shane Matthews or
Danny Wuerffel will be with the first unit on Sept. 8. But it's meaningful
that Spurrier has taken note of Ramsey's improvement and offered him some
encouragement.
This is a make-or-break season for a pair of Cleveland third-year wide
receivers, Dennis Northcutt and JaJuan Dawson, and rookie Andre Davis isn't
making their plight easier at this juncture of offseason workouts. Word is
that Davis, a second-round draft pick from Virginia Tech, has been
electrifying at times in recent workouts. Davis always could run fast but he
is really catching the ball well, too, and could eventually challenge Quincy
Morgan for the starting spot opposite Kevin Johnson. That might not bode
well for Northcutt or Dawson, players who have been injured far too often,
and who were drafted by the former regime. Translation: Coach Butch Davis
doesn't have to protect these two disappointing receivers since they weren't
chosen on his watch. Davis has demonstrated he wants his own guys peopling
the roster, so Dawson and Northcutt could be in trouble.
Yeah, we know, we've beaten the "James Stewart Saga" to death in this space
over the past couple weeks. But that was only because ESPN.com knew that,
despite reports to the contrary, the Detroit Lions and the veteran tailback
would agree to a restructured contract that would preclude the club from
releasing him. So here's the last time you'll read (at least anytime soon)
about Stewart's deal. To accommodate the team, Stewart reduced his 2002 base
salary from $4.15 million to $750,000, but pocketed a $2 million signing
bonus for doing so. His base salary for 2003 drops from $4.9 million to $3
million and he is due a $250,000 roster bonus next March 7. The final season
of his five-year contract, in 2005, was not affected by the restructuring.
So the Lions saved $2.73 million on their cap total this season and $1.23
million in 2003.
Of all the young players who have impressed new Indianapolis coach Tony
Dungy in his first few months with the Colts, few rate higher than
second-year safety Cory Bird. A third-round pick last spring, the former
Virginia Tech star played mostly on special teams as a rookie. Barring an
unforeseen setback, Bird is penciled in as the No. 1 strong safety this
year, replacing Chad Cota, who remains unsigned in the free agent market. If
Bird can handle the job, it will give the Colts two excellent young safeties
from the '01 draft, since second-round choice Idrees Bashir claimed the
starting free safety job as a rookie. One adjustment for Bird, though, is
that he will have to improve his coverage skills and range to play in the
Colts' "cover two" scheme. In college, Bird played close to the line of
scrimmage much of the time. Now he'll have to support the run more from
instinct than from positioning.
Turns out that, while the four-year contracts signed with Tennessee by
tailbacks Skip Hicks and Robert Holcombe are similar, they aren't exactly
the same. In fact, if the deals actually ran all four years (which they
won't) as currently structured, Hicks would earn $350,000 more than
Holcombe, exclusive of incentives. The Hicks contract totals $4.7 million
and includes base salaries of $700,000 (2002), $600,000 (2003), $950,000
(2004) and $1.2 million (2005). There is an option payment of $750,000 due
next spring and a $500,000 roster bonus for the 2004 season. The Holcombe
deal totals $4.35 million. The base salaries are $700,000 (2002), $600,000
(2003), $750,000 (2004) and $1.05 million (2005). Holcombe received an
advance of $150,000 on his '02 base salary. There is an option payment of
$750,000 next spring and roster bonuses of $250,000 each 2004-2005.
Catching up on two more recent veterans deals: The five-year contract that
was signed with New Orleans by former San Diego center/guard Kendyl Jacox
totals $10.15 million, but he'll probably never see that kind of money since
the deal voids after two seasons. There is a $325,000 signing bonus and the
base salaries are $525,000 (2002), $1.1 million (2003), $2 million (2004),
$2.5 million (2005) and $3 million (2006). Jacox can earn a $50,000 workout
bonus and $150,000 roster bonus in 2003 and in 2004 there is a roster bonus
of $500,000. . . . The two-year contract free agent defensive end Keith
McKenzie signed with the Chicago Bears totals $2,855,600. The signing bonus
was $100,000 and the base salaries are $750,000 for this year and $1 million
for 2003. There is a reporting bonus of $100,000 for this season and also a
$300,000 roster bonus. In 2003, there is a roster bonus of $500,000 and
workout bonus of $105,600.
For a signing bonus of just $6,000 and a three-year contract at minimum
base salaries, the New York Giants appear to have gotten a real steal in
fullback Charles Stackhouse. An undrafted free agent from Mississippi, who
was somehow passed over in the draft despite a solid college career,
Stackhouse has soft hands and is a terrific lead blocker. He reminds some of
former Giants standout Charles Way, whose career was cut short by an injury,
and is the favorite to inherit the starting job left open by the free agency
departure of Greg Comella to Tennessee this spring.
It may turn out to be a nothing pickup, a minor acquisition that amounts to
not much at all, but for zero investment the Rams made a smart move this
week by signing free agent offensive tackle DeMarcus Curry. Released by
Tampa Bay last month, when the Bucs signed veteran Roman Oben, the
still-maturing Curry has some talent. He played in just three games during
two full seasons in Tampa Bay and, according to coaches there, had some
problems with the mental side of the game. But at 6-feet-5 and 332 pounds,
and with decent feet, why not take a flier on the guy? The spring departures
of Ryan Tucker and Rod Jones in free agency have left St. Louis woefully
thin at tackle. It appears that youngster Cameron Spikes, who at one point
last spring was actually moved to defense for a while, is the frontrunner to
take over the starting right tackle spot. But that isn't a certainty yet.
The coaches love the potential of third-round pro John St. Clair, but
reality is that the former third-round draft choice hasn't played a single
snap in his first couple seasons. A few people in the employ of the Rams have quietly suggested the team
look at John Fina, released by Buffalo earlier this week, but the consensus
among St. Louis officials is that he has nothing left.
Lost in the hubbub surrounding the release of four high-profile wide
receivers into the free agent market this week is that there already were
some decent pass-catchers in the unrestricted pool. They include Michael
Westbrook (last of Washington), Willie Jackson (New Orleans), Terance Mathis
(Atlanta) and Charles Johnson (New England). It appears that Westbrook will
visit next week with Jacksonville officials. His representatives deny a
report that the Redskins recently made a modest proposal to bring him back.
It remains a mystery why Jackson, who had 81 catches for the Saints in 2001,
remains unsigned.
Punts: A few veteran players in Carolina pass on that first-round choice
Julius Peppers has looked lost at times and they privately wonder if he
possesses the gumption needed to be a star at the NFL level. There have been
days, the veterans say, when Panthers right tackle Chris Terry has
manhandled Peppers in drills. . . . The Chargers are giving tailback and
return specialist Ronney Jenkins a shot at wide receiver. . . . New England
center Damien Woody has regained his spot as the snapper in the shotgun
formation, at least for now. In 2001 the Patriots typically moved Woody to
left guard, and then left guard Mike Compton to center, in shotgun
situations. . . . Steelers insiders contend tailback Jerome Bettis isn't
nearly as overweight as some media reports have recently suggested. . . .
Look for the Houston Texans to nab free agent linebacker Keith Mitchell, the
2000 Pro Bowl performer released this week by New Orleans, and now one of
the most attractive buys in the free agent market. Mitchell is a good fit
for coach Dom Capers' scheme and is smart enough to know the 3-4 front will
provide him plenty of blitz opportunities. . . . Seattle is interested in
adding versatile offensive lineman Matt Campbell, released by the Texans a
week ago. . . . Buffalo will almost certainly re-sign unrestricted free
agent defensive lineman Shawn Price to add some depth.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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