If any of this speculation is true, it’s beyond stupid. Darren McFadden is by far the most dynamic player that the Oakland Raiders have. And when you don’t make the playoffs in a weak division, you don’t have any room to be dropping your best players.

What is true, however, is the that the Raiders are going back to a zone blocking scheme, similar to what they had under Tom Cable. And McFadden never flourished under that scheme, instead blossoming under Hue Jackson, who catered to his strengths.

ESPN’s John Clayton thinks that McFadden could be moved since the zone blocking scheme Gregg Knapp is expected to install doesn’t suit him.

“Once the Raiders go back to a zone blocking scheme, they have to decide whether to re-sign Michael Bush or trade Darren McFadden,” Clayton tweets.

McFadden certainly would have value, although his injury history would be the A1 problem preventing the Raiders from getting a ton for him. I believe McFadden could thrive in most any system, but the dude is hurt constantly.

The timing of this report is a bit curious. Just a couple days ago, there was a report from sources who would know about Peyton Manning’s neck condition that said he’d probably never play again.

Now, Chris Mortensen is reporting that Manning has been medically cleared to resume his NFL career. Of course, it’s Mort, so take this with a grain of salt.

“Peyton Manning medically cleared to resume NFL career, per sources. More coming on ESPN now. #NFL32,” Mort tweets.

Doctors said that “if the nerves in his arm had regenerated to a satisfactory performance level.” So basically, he’s safe to play, if he can play. It’s only a medical issue in the sense that he might not have the arm strength to be a stud anymore.

Time will tell, but let the “where will Peyton play” sweepstakes bonanza circus begin.

Last year at this time, New York Jets WR Plaxico Burress didn’t have the choice of when he was able to eat or go outside. But, since being released from prison, he has choices now. Like, whether or not he wants to play with the New York Jets and Mark Sanchez (not totally his choice, the Jets would have to want him and they most likely don’t, but just play along).

And if he doesn’t want to play with the Jets and Sanchez and doesn’t want anyone to know that, he needs to tell New York Giants RB and good friend Brandon Jacobs to shut his pie hole.

Jacobs is telling everyone at the Super Bowl that Plaxico doesn’t want to play with the Jets and that he would have preferred the Giants in the first place.

“Oh, no question, I know he did. I know he wanted to come to the Giants,” Jacobs popped off. “We just didn’t think it was going to be able to be done financially. But he may be (back) next year, who knows?”

Jacobs continued with the “Plax is done with the Jets” rhetoric.

“I don’t see him back with the Jets next year at all,” said Jacobs. “I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I don’t see that. They’ve got a lot of things going on over there, and I don’t know if he wants to be part of that.”

Jacobs was of course referring to the turmoil in the locker room. As a side note, when you’ve got Plaxico Burress thinking he doesn’t want any part of the tumult inside your building, you know you’ve got problems.

A source close to Burress told ESPN that the receiver also has serious doubts about the abilities of Sanchez. Jacobs didn’t deny that.

“I don’t see him there due to (the limited) success he had last year, and I don’t think it had anything to do with him,” Jacobs said. “And I’ll leave it at that.”

But, Jacobs wasn’t done.

“How many receiving yards did he have last year? How many catches did he have? He’s a starting wide receiver — (45) catches,” he said. “We got three guys, four guys on our team that have that. He’s a much better wide receiver than (45) catches, I tell you that.”

So basically Burress thinks Sanchez blows and he’d like to be with a better QB.

There has been a lot of talk lately – maybe too much talk – about Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning. He’s gone back and forth in the media with owner Jim Irsay, he’s due a $28 million bonus in March and there has been a ton of speculation about who could sign him if/when the Colts eventually cut him.

But, in the end will any of it really matter? All signs point to Peyton being toast due to his three-time surgically repaired neck.

Two sources with knowledge of Peyton’s neck condition tell Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports that the nerve cells are not healing as hoped and not progressing at a rate that would allow him to play again. They say he began throwing in December, but that his velocity isn’t coming back and they don’t think it ever will.

Photo Caption: “Of course you can’t read it, there’s nothing written on it. So you don’t have a concussion, get back in the game.”

Yeah, that’s not good. OTR’s father-in-law is a doctor and he keeps telling us, “necks are a tricky thing” while shaking his head. So all this talk about where he’ll end up next season is probably a waste of time. Maybe the Colts should just make him their QB’s coach and have him develop Andrew Luck.

Any time you lose a big game it hurts. Especially when you lose a very winnable NFC Championship game like the San Francisco 49ers did last Sunday to the New York Giants. And when dealing with that frustration, there are a variety of different ways that people choose to cope.

For 49ers rookie Aldon Smith, he chose to get busted for a DUI.

Smith was arrested and booked into Miami-Dade County Corrections at 9:32 AM on Saturday morning. Think about that…9:32 AM. Jesus, that’s a late night. And what is it about Miami? Seems like a great place to drive drunk or get into altercations outside of clubs.

If found guilty, the rookie sacks leader would most certainly be facing a league-mandated suspension. Not a good way to start year two.

When it comes to the Philadelphia Eagles and the re-signing of their own players, they usually lock up young talent early. They get them signed to long-term deals that are perhaps over market value at the time, thinking that they’ll be very good in a few years and then they’ll have them on the cheap.

That’s why it’s been relatively surprising that the Birds never extended the contract of DeSean Jackson. People in Philly have been yelling about this for a while now. Pay the man! Many blame the Eagles for Jackson’s turdish, “I can’t get hurt” style of play the last couple of years.

But, is it really their fault? According to Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News, maybe it’s not.

Domowitch says that league sources tell him that “Jackson’s opinion of his worth continues to be night-and-day different from the Eagles’”

Jackson said that he wouldn’t mind being franchised and that’s not surprising. That would be a $9.5 million pay day and I can’t see the Eagles paying that. Jackson is a difference maker for sure, but he’s not Larry Fitzgerald and never will be.

Maybe Jackson is the big reason that Jackson hasn’t gotten paid.

For San Francisco 49ers fans, last Sunday’s crushing defeat to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game will be in their minds forever. Chances are, they will also remember Kyle Williams, the backup punt returner who had two costly fumbles while replacing the injured Ted Ginn.

Williams was absolutely skewered for his mistakes, the latter of which led to the game-winning field goal in overtime. He even received death threats from people who obviously have no idea how to place sports in its proper context.

But, there was one person who felt awful for him and reached out to him. Seven-year old Owen Shure from Los Angeles.

He was so upset that he was crying his eyes out when his Niners lost. He was apparently doing that little-kid cry where you can only get one word out at a time, asking why Williams had to fumble.

His dad suggested that maybe he write a letter to Williams and tell him not to feel so bad. And that’s what Owen did. Here is the transcript of the letter:

Dear Mr. Williams:

We just watched the Playoff game. I feel really bad for you but I wanted to tell you that you had a great season. you sould be very proud, so I wanted to say thank you.

I am your #1 FAN!

Owen Shure
Los Angeles, CA

p.s. your awsome

If you don’t like this story, you don’t have a heart.

The Baltimore Ravens lost the AFC Championship game on Sunday in heartbreaking fashion to the New England Patriots. Down by just three points, Lee Evans dropped a game-winning TD pass and then kicker Billy Cundiff blew a 32-yard field goal.

So, one could imagine that guys like Terrell Suggs might not be in the best of moods. On Monday, T-Sizzle went on ESPN to be interviewed by Skip Bayless about the game. They were talking about the end of the game and the confusion when Anquan Boldin fumbled the ball forward and out of bounds.

Bayless tried to insinuate that Suggs was saying that the hometown Pats were messing with the down and distance on the scoreboard. Suggs insisted he wasn’t…and then called him a douchebag.

Hahahaha….check it out:

We already know about the issues the New York Jets are having with Mark Sanchez and their possible desire to go after Peyton Manning. But, we couldn’t possibly think that they would be the only team interested in one of the best QB’s in NFL history should be become available.

And ESPN‘s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen are reporting that you can add the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins to that list. The Dolphins are hardly surprising given that no amount of second-round picks or free-agency signings have filled the QB void since Dan Marino left. And no, Chad Pennington and Jay Fiedler don’t count.

But the Cardinals? The Cardinals just gave up a second-round pick and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to the Philadelphia Eagles for Kevin Kolb. And then they gave him a big contract. So…you are admitting that you made a major screw up and Kolb isn’t remotely who you thought he was?

On one hand, that’s a big mistake to admit that quickly. On the other hand, I give them credit for moving on before the error is compounded by more losing.

You may remember back in September that Cincinnati Bengals WR Jerome Simpson ran afoul of the law when he had more than two lbs. of marijuana delivered to his home. Once investigators got a hold of the package, they searched his residence to find six more lbs of pot, along with smoking and scaling devices.

Yeah, he wasn’t just smoking it.

Well, today Simpson was indicted on a charge of trafficking more than eight ounces of marijuana, but under five pounds. It’s a Class D felony and he’s facing 1-5 years in prison if convicted.

Maybe Simpson will be more attractive to the Bengals to re-sign. He’ll come cheaper and he’s been indicted on a felony. These are two of the top things that the Bengals look for.

We mentioned previously that actor Rob Lowe was tweeting about Peyton Manning’s retirement. He said that he could be wrong, but that his people tell him that Manning will retire today from the Indianapolis Colts and NFL as a whole.

Well, Jason La Canfora of NFL Network got a hold of Manning’s agent Tom Condon, who was unaware of any plans that Peyton may have had to retire today.

He told La Canfora that these reports were “news to me.” He also told him that all of this was “the first he’d heard of it.”

Photo Caption: “Hey Curtis, shut it for two seconds. I’ve got Rob Lowe on the line and he watches a lot of CNN.”

That’s not to say that an agent would put out false information. Hell, they do it all the time. But, it’s another side of the story and, if Condon is to be believed, you’d think that Peyton would have discussed this with him at some point. That $28 million roster bonus doesn’t all belong to Peyton, you know.

Stay tuned.

There has been a lot of talk (maybe too much talk) about the future of Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning. With an injured neck that just can’t seem to get right, many have speculated that he will just retire.

And now, we get word from someone who says that Manning will retire today. Everyone’s favorite boss on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” Rob Lowe, tweets that he’s hearing that Manning will hang them up. Here are his tweets:

Hearing my fave, #18 Peyton Manning will not return to #NFL. Wow. #Colts

@richeisen My people are saying Manning will retire today. What do you hear? #NFL

#Colts fans, let’s hope my info is wrong. Don’t like being wrong, but this time… I’m hoping #NFL #Manning

As of this posting, Manning has not yet made any announcement and Lowe is hardly known for breaking sports stories. But, hey, he’s a high-profile Colts fan who probably knows several people in the organization. And, his sitcom is based in Indiana, so there is that sitting right out there too.

I know, I know. You’re sick of hearing about Tim f’ing Tebow. So are we. But, this isn’t about him loving Jesus or not supporting gay people.

It’s actually about his toughness. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Tebow was seriously banged up last week in the Denver Broncos loss to the New England Patriots.

An NFL source tells Schefter that Tebow “tore cartilage on his first rib where it attaches to his sternum, bruised his lung and had fluid buildup in his pleural cavity.”

Yikes!

No one can say the kid isn’t tough. Supposedly, he wouldn’t have been able to play in the AFC Championship game had the Broncos won. Thank god that didn’t come close to happening!

Tebow, who had trouble sleeping over the weekend due to the pain (why do I think he doesn’t believe in booze or pain killers?), apparently won’t have his offseason regimen affected by the injuries. He should be back throwing those ultra-tight ducks in no time.

But seriously, this could be a concern for Tebow and the Broncos. The way he plays the game, it’s entirely possible that it will take a toll on his body as the years go by.

Not sure that this is a shock really. There was a good portion of the season spent wondering whether or not the Indianapolis Colts would be joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only two teams to lose all 16 games.

But, without Peyton Manning, was head coach Jim Caldwell really culpable? The Colts think so, as they have shown him the door and fired him not long after the Polians got the boot.

In short, the Colts are rebuilding. And that might just be yet another reason for Peyton to play elsewhere next season (if he’s able to play at all). All new coaches, front office execs, new systems….nah, Peyton can’t be bothered with that crap.

And he likely won’t have to. It’s widely expected that the Colts will take Stanford QB Andrew Luck with the first-overall pick in next April’s draft.

The Peyton Manning era is likely over in Indy.

Green Bay Packers fans may or may not have noticed that their team lost this weekend to the New York Giants. Actually, it was more of a stomping, where the Giants overcame two horrific calls to still soundly beat the Pack.

You know who definitely noticed? This Packers fan right here in this video.

I’m hoping to god this was some sort of joke. This is the female equivalent of the crying Giants fan from 2009.

Really? You think they lost because of your sparkly nail glitter? Or the fact that you should have worn your Aaron Rodgers jersey instead of Clay Matthews. Here’s a tip: You won the Super Bowl last year…stfu.

Maybe this really isn’t a very big deal, but when you have other off-field issues, you lose the benefit of the doubt. And Dallas Cowboys WR Dez Bryant doesn’t need to be in these situations because if just makes him look bad.

WFAA in Dallas is reporting that Bryant was detained by police over the weekend after an altercation at a Miami nightclub. PFT reports that he was neither charged nor arrested.

Photo Caption: Brandon Hughes tries to detain Dez Bryant.

We still don’t know what happened so we can’t say much more. Maybe some tough guy singled him out because he’s an NFL player. Happens all the time.

But, the fact that he’s in these situations while many still question his judgement is not a good sign.

If you’re like us, you have been sitting on the edge of your set as Jeff Fisher made his huge decision of which football team to coach. We can’t tell you how much sleep we’ve lost over the last week or so just wanting the indecision to end. Ok, that’s a huge lie. We really don’t care.

But, for those of you who do, Fisher has been named the head coach of the St. Louis Rams.

He had also met with the Miami Dolphins and was thinking about the same position there. We aren’t sure what he was using to base his decision off of, but it clearly wasn’t weather or hot chicks wearing next to nothing.

So there you go, Rams fans. You now have an established coach who has proven that he can take your team to within one yard of tying a Super Bowl.

In the first two years of the Mark Sanchez/Rex Ryan regime in New York, the Jets made it all the way to the AFC Championship game. No matter how it happened nor how ugly it may have been, they got within a sniff of the Super Bowl in their first two tries. Tough to argue with that.

Unless it’s a year later and you missed the playoffs this season. That has seemed to change a lot of people’s tunes, especially when it comes to the ability of Sanchez and how the organization handles him.

“They don’t want to be truthful with him,” one prominent player told Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News. “They treat him like a baby instead of a man. He goes in a hole when someone tells him the truth.”

A team source also told the News that mounting criticism during the season caused Sanchez to un-follow every member of the New York media. You f’ing serious?

“So that should tell you everything,” the source said. “He just doesn’t have the mental toughness to be great… especially in New York.”

Others told the News that players in the locker room are getting pretty frustrated with the way the team treats him.

“They see the organization babying him,” said a Jets source. “They see him with a sense of entitlement. He’s been given all this and hasn’t done anything. They call him ‘San-chise.’ They make him the face of the organization. They gave him the captain tag. He’s not a captain. He should have never been a captain.”

The News says that none of the Jets players that they spoke to about this story agreed with Ryan’s decision to make Sanchez a captain. Wow.

Members of the team also said that they would love to bring in Peyton Manning next year, but someone inside the building says that that’s not going to happen.

“I don’t think that he’ll come here,” a member of the Jets organization said. “We have to change the perception of our organization. We’re not the organization that players said they wanted to play for a year or two ago. We’re starting to come across a little flaky. We talk the talk. We don’t back it up. We’re out of control. There’s no discipline. It’s a mess right now.”

Regardless, it sounds like the Jets need to fix a ton of stuff inside the facility there. Something’s broken big time.

The Indianapolis Colts knew they were screwed when Peyton Manning continued to have issues with his neck. They just really didn’t know how screwed. If they did, then the Polians would still have their jobs.

So, Peyton was out all year and one of the early-season attempts at a band-aid was bringing in gray beard Kerry Collins. Collins didn’t work out, largely due to the fact that his best years are behind him and the Colts thoroughly stink with Manning.

When they shelved him on IR months ago, they said he continued to experience “concussion-like symptoms.”

But, Phillip B. Wilson of the Indianapolis Star, which is a newspaper filled with articles and news, calls BS on the concussion stuff. He writes:

But the part I truly hated was the exit strategy. Nobody will ever convince me Collins suffered from “concussion-like symptoms.” That, I’m told from someone who spoke to Collins directly, was not true. I was also told Collins approached the team about letting him retire and go back to Nashville, Tenn. It’s my understanding Collins gave the team a break on that $4 million deal, a retiree rebate, if you will. I’m guessing nobody will ever come out and tell the truth about this, but I trust my source enough to mention it here. And so we move on.

Hmmmm…that would make sense. In the midst of a terrible season where Collins is just getting knocked around, I could see him throwing in the towel. He doesn’t need the money (I have no clue if that’s true) and he’s too old to be taking a beating for an awful team.

When the Oakland Raiders hired Reggie McKenzie as their new general manager, we knew that changes could be coming. Head coach Hue Jackson was not his guy, and there was the possibility that he could be tossed (especially the way he was running his mouth the last few weeks).

Well, according to Adam Schefter, McKenzie won the power struggle and has told Jackson to pound sand.

“Raiders fired Hue Jackson. More on ESPN,” Schefter tweets.

Jackson had accrued a decent amount of power in his short stint with the Raiders, and that could have cost him his job. Trading the first- and second-round picks for Carson Palmer did not help his cause. If Palmer lit the world on fire and they made the playoffs, Jackson would probably still have a job.

But, they didn’t make the tournament and now their future is weaker for it. They just have to hope that Palmer returns to form. Otherwise, that’s one of the worst trades in recent memory.

As for potential replacements, who the hell knows right now? We’ve heard Winston Moss, but there are so many coaches and coordinators being linked to this job and that job that we’d prefer not to keep up. Let us know when someone accepts a position.

The St. Louis Rams fired head coach Steve Spagnuolo last week after several terrible seasons. And even before they let him go, there was speculation that he could return to the Philadelphia Eagles – where he coached the linebackers before heading to the New York Giants to be their defensive coordinator – to replace Juan Castillo. Castillo was in charge of an Eagles defense this year that was awful.

But, for Eagles fans who can’t wait to see Castillo’s behind get hit by the door, you may get your wish.

NFLN‘s Albert Breer is reporting that Spagnuolo will be re-joining the Eagles later this week. But, we don’t know if it will be to replace Castillo as the defensive coordinator, or if he’ll be an assistant head coach. I have a tough time believing he’d accept a position in Philadelphia that wasn’t him running the defense. Don’t see it.

Right now, Andy Reid is on vacation and the Eagles have not commented on this report. We can’t imagine the team announcing anything until Reid gets back, so just expect more smoke and rumors until then.

The Detroit Lions made the playoffs this season despite not having much of a running game all season. The biggest reason for that was because Jahvid Best was dealing with concussions…again.

He’s not had three concussions in his last three football seasons dating back to Cal. That’s not a good thing and these concussions were a reason that some teams had taken him completely off of their draft boards last year. But, despite the severity of head injuries, Best says he’ll be back next year for the Lions.

“Jahvid Best said he’s symptom free and will “definitely” be back playing next year,” tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.

He’s only due some $640,000 in salary next year, so the Lions will give him a shot. He is still extremely explosive. However, don’t expect the team to put all their eggs in his basket, that would be moronic. They’ve got to re-sign Kevin Smith and they’ll be getting Mikel LeShoure back from his Achilles tear as well.

You may remember back in 2006 when Jim Mora Sr., former head coach of the New Orleans Saints, went on the radio to talk about Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick. His son Jim Mora Jr., was the head coach at the time and there were issues then surrounding Vick that didn’t involve one dog biting the head off of another.

Vick was given a $100+ million contract from the Falcons and owner Arthur Blank had his back big time. But, while Vick had jaw-dropping ability, his awful attitude and approach to the game combined with his poor decision making on the field, were a big problem. With Vick, you had a chance to win any given game. But, chances are, this was not the guy that was going to take you to the promised land.

So, when Mora Sr. was asked if Vick was a coach killer back in 2006, he said that he was. The Falcons had a three-game losing streak, with Vick completing less than 50% of his passes and throwing more INT’s than TD’s during that stretch. Things weren’t looking good.

But, let’s quickly define why he was considered a coach killer. Basically, he was/is a guy, who is so immensely talented, but that you just can’t win with him. From management’s perspective, he is selling out your stadium left and right. The fans love him. They can’t get enough of him. He’s a marketer’s dream. Everyone is enamored with this player. He is making you tons of money. But, at the end of the day, he just doesn’t win enough. His style won’t allow it. And front office brass keeps thinking they need to find the right coach to come in and show this superhuman how to play football the right way, even if it’s not possible. Hence: Coach killer.

So then, of course, came the offseason and the dogfighting stuff for Vick. Which we’re all well aware of and he plead guilty and did a bunch of prison time then landed with the Philadelphia Eagles and blah blah blah.

He took over for an injured Kevin Kolb (thank god) in 2010 as the full time starter after doing a bunch of BS spot work in 2009 that was ridiculous. And during that 2010 season, he had a run that can only be considered magical. There was a stretch of about eight games where I can honestly say I’ve never seen the QB position played that well. His rifle passes were insanely accurate and he could still kill you with scrambling and broken-play runs. It was truly amazing.

But, it didn’t last. He ended 2010 struggling against the blitz and making one read and then taking off. He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t the same guy we had seen previously playing at a level that maybe even the Falcons couldn’t have predicted when they traded up to make him the No. 1-overall player selected in the 2001 draft.

In 2011, the Philadelphia Eagles were staring down the barrel of the final year of his contract. He could either play with the franchise tag (they sure as hell weren’t sticking with Kolb. Thanks, Arizona), or get an extension. The Eagles chose the latter and signed him to another $100 million contract (even if some of it is typical NFL nonsense when talking about total value. But, you get the point.).

And in 2011, Vick regressed quite considerably. Maybe the Eagles didn’t expect him to play like the super stud that he was for much of the 2010 season, but they didn’t expect him to revert to full-on Atlanta days either. What they got this season was somewhere in between. But, it was closer to Atlanta Vick than 2010 Vick.

So then, the question still remains: Is Michael Vick a coach killer? Is he still someone that you just have to have out there due to his play-making ability, yet won’t win you anything in the end? And with Andy Reid’s record with quarterbacks and how well he gets them to perform, is it safe to say that this is as good as it gets? Vick’s goal after prison was to prove everyone wrong and to show people that he could come back from being incarcerated for about two years. Hasn’t he already technically done that? Is it possible that he’s content to collect his check at this point?

***** (I don’t really know what this means, but I see this crap inserted into lengthy articles in major magazines all the time)

After a huge free-agent spending spree this offseason (you know the names, Nnamdi, Babin, Jenkins, Brown, Young, Smith, etc), the Eagles were saddled with championship aspirations. And look, they were highly thought of regardless of what that Tyler Perry character Vince Young said about the “Dream Team.” Forget all of that. The bottom line is that everyone in the 215 area code thought that this team would win 11 games at a very minimum.

That is, until the season actually started and we got a whiff of the on-field product. The team ended up having to win its final four games against a slew of terrible quarterbacks just to get to 8-8.

And there were many reasons for the Eagles demise this season. But, the top two main reasons were Juan Castillo’s woefully deficient defense and the turnovers. Many of those turnovers had Michael Vick’s fingerprints all over them. He was intercepted 14 times and fumbled three more times. Some of those fumbles were the direct result of him being careless while running with the football (something he should be comfortable with by now).

Vick threw for 3,303 yards this season despite missing a few games with injury. He also had 18 touchdown passes and ran for another. But, let’s be clear, 3,000 yards is no more a bench mark for quarterbacks these days as 1,000 yards is for running backs or receivers. It’s a 16-game season in an offense-driven league. These aren’t the marks of a great season anymore. It’s not the early seventies and Dave Hampton isn’t killing himself to get 1,000 yards rushing anymore. Drew Brees shattered Dan Marino’s single-season passing record this year. Tom Brady beat it too. Drew Stafford had 5,000+ yards passing as well. And hell, Aaron Rodgers could have too if he didn’t sit out Week 17.

And, even if Vick didn’t miss those few games, he would have likely had a TD total in the low 20′s, with his INT’s rising too. We don’t know for sure, I’m just guessing. Regardless, these aren’t the stats of a franchise QB.

But, the truth is, he should be held responsible for missing those games anyway. You can’t blame players for getting hurt, but somehow you can blame Vick when he does. Do you know that the only time that Vick has played a full 16-game season was in that 2006 season when Jim Mora Sr. made his “coach killer” comment? That’s the only time? You’re supposed to rely on this guy? It’s not just that he’s injury prone, it’s that he does nothing to help himself stay healthy on the field.

He doesn’t slide at all and it’s maddening. It’s not just that he doesn’t slide, it’s that he says he can’t slide. That he doesn’t know how. The Falcons had brought in former Atlanta Brave Terry Pendleton to help him slide and apparently that didn’t work. I, for one, am not buying that raft of crap at all. You’re going to tell me that one of the most amazing athletes on the planet can’t do something athletically that Drew Bledsoe could? Puh-lease. It’s absolute nonsense and it’s a major flaw in his game because you just cannot count on this guy for a full slate of games.

It’s easy to look at the Eagles season and point the finger at Juan Castillo and his lousy defense as the main culprit in their horrific 8-8 season (he gets a heavy dose of blame from me). He was the Peter Principle personified and it would be a crime against humanity for Andy Reid to keep him around another season.

However, let’s go back to those turnovers and the role they played. The Eagles committed 36 turnovers this year. 36! 2.25 a game! Without looking it up, I find it tough to believe that you’re going to find too many Super Bowl winners with that many turnovers. You simply can’t win in the NFL doing that. Plain and simple. And you could probably go back and look and take away a couple Vick interceptions and this team makes the playoffs. Not to put the whole season on him, but when you are paid this kind of money to QB a team, you’re going to shoulder the brunt of the blame. Donovan did, Vick can too.

If it wasn’t for the final four-game win streak against future Hall of Famers such as Matt Moore/J.P. Losman, Mark Sanchez, Stephen McGee and Rex Grossman, there is a good chance that Reid would be gone. And the organization’s commitment to an undisciplined turnover machine like Vick would have to be a big reason.

After seeing Vick’s rocket-ship development as a quarterback in 2010 under Reid, we all thought that his Atlanta days were in the past. But, he reverted to those days relatively quickly in 2011 and was back to his old ways of not going through all of his progressions, turning the ball over too much, and getting hurt. Wonderful.

So, was Jim Mora right? Is Vick still nothing more than a coach killer? A guy who’s athletic gifts command tons of money, but will ultimately sink the whole ship with injuries, inconsistency and mental mistakes? I guess we’ll have to ask Andy after the 2012 season, which will be his last if Vick plays like he did in 2011.

We all know how unhappy Philadelphia Eagles CB Asante Samuel has been this year. The team went out and traded for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (which didn’t specifically piss him off) and then signed big-ticket free agent Nnamdi Asomugha (that pissed him off). Then there were all the rumors in training camp – and later in the season as well – that Birds were trying to deal Asante.

And, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, they got awfully close.

Sources tell McLane that back in August, the Eagles pretty much had a deal in place with the Detroit Lions that would have sent Asante packing in exchange for two second-day picks. With the new three-day draft format, that would mean second- and/or third-round picks. The deal was far enough along, according to McLane, that the Lions called Samuel.

But, the deal eventually fell through for one reason or another (McLane hears it wasn’t about compensation) and best of all, Asante was well aware that they tried to deal him. This displeased Asante.

Expect Eagles general managing “wizard” Howie Roseman to try to deal him again this offseason. With his salary jumping up to $8.4 million next year, expect them to get even less than they would have gotten from the Lions. Then again, if Drew Brees carves them up on Sunday, maybe they’ll be eager to acquire the little playmaker.

Not sure to what extent I believe this, but I’m going to pass it along. Anthony Gargano of 94 WIP in Philadelphia, says that radio host Mike Francessa is saying that Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie called San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos and told him that he won’t have access to Andy Reid.

Basically, get your hands off of my coach if you plan to fire A.J. Smith and head coach Norv Turner. Francessa is saying that that’s the reason that both Turner and Smith stayed.

So, you didn’t fire your head coach and GM because there was only one guy on planet Earth that you think is better? Anything is possible, but that doesn’t make a ton of sense.

But, anyway, Lurie just announced that Andy Reid will be back for next year, so all you people who can’t stand Reid, get ready for at least another season.

When you go 10-6 one year with a promising young quarterback and then follow that up with a season where said young quarterback regresses big time and you finish the year with 10 straight losses, something has to change. And something did change for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they have fired head coach Raheem Morris.

“I can’t do nothing but be gracious to everybody involved,” Morris told Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune. “I almost pulled it off. I almost did it. I almost got us winning again. At the end, though, I had nothing to stand on. The last 10 games – you can’t do that.”

What? You almost got the team winning again? Are you talking about 2010? That’s fine, but the Bucs were a sack of horse manure this year, losing the final five games by an average of 23 points. Yowsers. That’s not almost winning. That’s not even almost tying.

But, Morris seems to know that he was going to get the axe. He had to.

“I can’t be negative to anybody in the organization – not Mark Dominik, not anyone, not one bit. I can’t do it. They were too good to me,” Morris said.

So yeah, no one here is surprised. The Bucs ended up as one of the worst teams in the NFL this year, even though they supposedly had playoff aspirations at the beginning of the season. The coaching search now begins.

According to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Asante Samuel has been ruled out for the Eagles game against the Washington Redskins on Sunday. Not that it really matters, if any game could possibly mean absolutely nothing, it’s this Eagles/Redskins game.

But, the bigger question is, does this mean that Asante is finished with the Eagles?

Sure, he’s under contract, but how many corners do the Eagles need? They traded for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the offseason and he’s been a complete bust. However, he was also playing in the slot a lot even though he has no experience doing that.

They also signed Nnamdi Asomugha this offseason and he’s not going anywhere.

Clearly, having three great corners doesn’t help much because the Eagles will be watching the post-season at home. There are tons of teams that would love to have Asante and the Eagles could use the extra money and cap space elsewhere.

Not to mention the team has most likely tried to trade him anyway. The fact that they couldn’t doesn’t mean that Asante’s spot in Philly is safe. With all the talk of DeSean Jackson moving on after this year, I think it’s more likely that Asante leaves.

Once thought of as a possible upside fantasy player, Washington Redskins RB Ryan Torain is now homeless. Well, he most likely has an actual place to live (we’d assume), but he no longer has an NFL home. According to Chris Russell of ESPN 980 AM, the Redskins have parted ways with Torain.

“Ryan Torain had 135 yards rushing in STL & a combined total of 65 yards since, before his release this AM as ESPN 980 has learned. #Redskins,” Russell tweets.

And he isn’t kidding about those awful numbers. The Redskins really have not found anyone to run the ball since Clinton Portis was actually good. Shocking since Mike Shanahan has paid some much attention to the position. His first year with the Skins, he had old versions of Portis, Larry Johnson and Willie Parker. And it didn’t work out! How?!

This season, he had the grouping of Tim Hightower, Roy Helu, Ryan Torain and Evan Royster. And that didn’t work out either!! Baffles the mind.

Torain could get a look in Dallas, Detroit or Buffalo, but who knows?

Before this season, the San Francisco 49ers signed Braylon Edwards to a one-year, $1.6 million contract. The hope was that he would be a deep threat for them, but that never happened for a variety of reasons.

“I was released today by the 49ers due to my injury that required more time to rehab and hasn’t allowed me to re-sync with the offense…,” Edwards tweeted.

First of all, Alex Smith stinks when it comes time to throw the ball deep. That’s quite a big problem to start with. But also, Edwards had knee issues all season and isn’t very good anymore to begin with. 2007 was a long time ago.

Kyle Williams eventually surpassed him on the depth chart and Edwards only got into nine games this year. He finished the season with 15 catches for 181 yards and no touchdowns.

The Dallas Cowboys have three pretty lethal wide receivers in Dez Bryant, Miles Austin and now Laurent Robinson (who they target the hell out of). The Philadelphia Eagles have three excellent cornerbacks (supposedly) in Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Should be a great matchup, right?

Not exactly.

The Eagles have ruled out Samuel, who injured his hamstring against the New York Jets last week.

Photo Caption: It is next to impossible to replace this kind of production.

So, that means that DRC will be starting in his place. The good thing is that DRC is a natural outside corner and actually pretty much blows in the nickel, where they’ve forced him most of this season.

And that means a more natural nickel/slot corner, Joselio Hanson, will be playing in the middle. That’s a good thing for him, because he sucks donkey balls when he has to play on the outside.