Lions Rumor: Leap Day

Nick Cotsonika's freep.com blog:

- The Lions appear to be pursuing Michael Turner, the best running back available in free agency. It seemed unlikely that the Lions would go after him, considering what coach Rod Marinelli has said about wanting players who wouldn’t break the bank. But on NFL Network last night, Pat Kirwan reported the Lions were interested in Turner, and the San Diego Union-Tribune reports Chicago, New Orleans and Detroit are believed to have the strongest interest in him. Turner is reportedly visiting Atlanta today.

-- The Union-Tribune also reported cornerback Drayton Florence will likely be with a new team this weekend – either Washington or Detroit. Florence told the Free Press on Thursday he had heard the Lions were interested.


-- This might indicate what the trade market is for defensive tackle Shaun Rogers: The Packers traded defensive tackle Corey Williams to the Browns for a second-rounder. The Panthers are reportedly trading defensive tackle Kris Jenkins to the Jets for a third- and fifth-round pick.

There are definately some intriguing moves that the Lions are working on. The Shaun Rogers thing is the most interesting of all the news. At midnight, the Lions will owe Rogers a 1 million dollar roster bonus. Expect him to be traded before then.

Michael Turner would be an excellent pick up. If they could grab Turner, grab a couple of offensive lineman, and fill a hole on defense with the first round pick, they could have a good off-season.

Lions Rumors 2/28

From mlive.com

According to an unnamed league source, the Jacksonville Jaguars are the latest team to enter into trade discussions with the Detroit Lions. Jacksonville is reportedly offering to swap defensive tackles, offering three-time Pro Bowler Marcus Stroud in exchange for Shaun Rogers.

from profootballtak.com

MENAGE-A-TRADE IN THE WORKS?

As the 2008 league year quickly approaches, there's talk of a possible three-way trade.

We're told that the Jets, Lions, and Broncos are talking about a deal that would send Detroit defensive tackle Shaun Rogers to New York, Jets defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson to the Broncos, and Denver cornerback Dominique Foxworth and a second-round pick to the Lions.

The Lions also are looking at a trade for Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma.


There is a theme developing with what the Lions are doing. They are taking on players with lower prices because of injury and age, and I can't blame them for doing that. The Lions have a hard time signing guys looking to win, so they settle for guys with something to prove.

Also, the Lions are reportedly close to signing former Tampa Bay Buc Brian Kelly.

A Tarnished Legacy is now commonplace

There seems to be another trend going on in sports. A team or person in sports cannot just take their success and fade into the sunlight.

Two perfect examples of this are going on right now -- Roger Clemens and the New England Patriots.

Growing up, Roger Clemens was the most dominate pitcher I had ever seen. His 'I don't give a damn' persona fit perfectly with his overpowering pitching ability.

However, the persona isn't as fitting when you find out that its not a persona, its the real Roger.

This week, Clemens testified at a Congressional hearing on the McNamee/Clemens debacle. You can say that Clemens is trying to save his legacy by proving he hasn't used steroids.

Sorry Roger, thats not even possible at this point. You have Andy Pettite saying you used steroids, and apparent proof from everyone (Including your wife) saying that you were around the juice.


Now we come to the case of the New England Patriots. The NFL Dynasty in waiting has all but collapsed since losing the Super Bowl to the Giants just a few weeks ago.

Reports came out that the Patriots have been cheating (stealing opposing defensive signs) since 2001.

I have known that the Patriots were way too secretive about something and now I realize something:

We live in a time where publicity is money, and money is power. We see people like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan glorified on the news every evening with their underwear-less escapades and DUIs galore.

This doesn't just apply to star-dom, but also applies to Sport.

In this corner we've got Britney Spears, the girl who truly never had a childhood and needs everything from everyone and thinks that even in the negative, she is still popular.


In the other corner, we have Bill Belicheck. The coach who can do no wrong and even in defeat will be the newsmaking story, the guy who's secretive nature becomes so comical that you can't do anything but laugh at how idiotic he is.

Eli Manning: Top 5 Quarterback in 2008.

It would have been a stretch to say that during the 2007-2008 NFL season that Eli Manning was a top 15 quarterback, let alone top 5.

However, that Eli Manning was not this Eli Manning....

The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player.

I don't think that you can really look past the MVP of the Super Bowl. Eli Manning's memories from this season aren't the 0-2 start which almost took his coach's job, or the callings of bust. His memory is the final (game-winning) drive he engineered in the Game of all Games: the Super Bowl.

He remembers a drive where he did nothing wrong, eluding tacklers, throwing up the most unlikely of all passes. for huge gains, capped off by a Plaxico Burress touchdown catch.

This is why I am not afraid to make this prediction, that Eli will be amongst the upper echelon quarterbacks in 2008. Tom Brady.. Peyton Manning.. Brett Favre. Tony Romo..Eli Manning.