NFL Matters

NFL Christmas came and some major gifts have been opened and exchanged. The NFL is like an Ant Farm: No matter how many established inroads are dug by teams, the entire league can be shaken a few times and the whole thing starts over again fresh.

While the Bears didn't get Mario Williams, they still made a very impressive move by trading two third round draft picks for the incredibly talented and psychologically disturbed Brandon Marshall. With this trade, the Bears finally gave their franchise QB Jay Cutler the elite receiver the Bears haven't had since Johnny Morris. I also believe the Bears were NOT aware of Marshall's Lady-Punching incident in New York before making the trade, but it doesn't matter. The Bears needed to make this move strictly because they got a better receiver than Vincent Jackson for a much better price. I also believe Marshall won't be suspended for the alleged incident either.

The Bears also made sure that a Caleb Hanie situation never happens again, by signing Jason Campbell to be the backup QB, and they also added some linebacker depth by bringing in Blake Costanzo while retaining some of their own in Israel Idonije, Kellen Davis, Tim Jennings, Craig Steltz, and Josh McCown.

All these moves the Bears made are fine additions, but they are not the reason Phil Emery was brought in as General Manager. Emery will ultimately prove his worth in the draft. Still, helluva start Phil.

Today also became a significant day in NFL History as for the first time ever, both an NFL GM and a Head Coach were suspended. Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis felt the wrath of Roger Goodell, as the commissioner suspended Loomis for 8 games, and Payton for the entire season as punishment for "Bounty-Gate".

I had predicted Goodell would suspend Gregg Williams for half a season, but Roger went WAY farther than that by suspending Williams "indefinitely". I also predicted Roger would make examples out of the Saints. He definitely came through in that regard, and then some, but not for the reasons I thought he would.

It wasn't so much the fact that the Saints were running a Bounty System that put Goodell in his patented "Hanging Judge Mode". It was the fact that Goodell confronted the Saints about their Bounty System TWO YEARS AGO, and they lied to him. The Saints first denied to the commissioner that the program even existed, then after acknowledging that lie, informed the commissioner that the program does exist and they will cease it immediately.

That was in 2010. Obviously, it didn't stop, and even more obviously, Goodell knew it too.

I'm not one of these blind followers of Goodell who applaud every single decision he makes, but Roger is spot on with this punishment in my opinion. It's bad enough to lie to Roger Goodell's face about something he already knows you're doing, but it's even worse to lie to him again when he gives you a second chance to clean up your act. The Saints weren't smart enough to recognize their second chance, and arrogantly continued the Bounty System.

The lesson ultimately learned? Don't mess with, or attempt to make a fool out of Roger Goodell. Good job Commissioner.

NFL Christmas Eve

We're at the eve of one of the biggest days of the NFL Year : The First Day of NFL Free Agency. This is a day where teams make swift, bold, and most importantly, very expensive decisions meant to improve their respective rosters.

Some of them work out (Reggie White, Deion Sanders), and some of them don't (Albert Haynesworth, Javon Walker). When they work out, they can result in Super Bowl titles. When they don't work out, they can set your franchise back in very frightening ways.

Each signing is significant, one way or another, but no matter who signs where, the prospect of your favorite NFL team getting bright shiny new toys to play with, will always get fans excited about the upcoming season.

Which brings us to the Chicago Bears. The Bears stand $22.6 million under the cap, and by all accounts are itchy to spend it. On the one hand, they can go the obvious route by pursuing a #1 wide receiver in Vincent Jackson or Marques Colston, while concurrently pursuing a Carl Nicks or Ben Grubbs to shore up an offensive line desperate for depth. On the other hand, they can give into temptation by pursuing Mario Williams thereby forming a front four with two of the most elite pass rushers in the game today.

Cutting to the chase as quickly as I can, I believe the Bears should roll the dice and aggressively pursue Mario Williams, and I'll give you my reasons:

First of all, I don't like Vincent "2 DUI's" Jackson, or Marques "My Knee Is More Fragile Than I Let On" Colston. Despite what their stats will tell you, I don't believe either one of them are the elite receivers Jay Cutler needs, not to mention the track record of teams breaking the bank on Free Agent Wide Receivers is not a good one in terms of winning Super Bowls. Did I mention Muhsin Muhammad?

Secondly, Phil Emery is known for being a college scout specialist. So hopefully that means he has a better idea of what to look for in the draft than Jerry Angelo. The Bears also have 8 draft picks this year, including two 3rd round picks. I believe the Bears can find a suitable receiver with their second or third round pick(s), which would be a much better bet than heavily investing in Jackson or Colston.

It should also bear mentioning that Vincent Jackson was a late second round pick in 2005 - and he was also the TENTH Receiver taken in that draft! Some of the names drafted ahead of VJAX? Braylon Edwards, Mike Williams, Reggie Brown, Matt Jones, and (drum roll) Mark Bradley.

Thirdly, Mario Williams is an elite pass rusher. Essentially he's a 27 year old version of Julius Peppers: freak athlete with unbelievable size and quickness who consistently gets to the quarterback despite constant double teams. Mario already has 53 sacks in 6 seasons, which is roughly the same pace Peppers had at age 27, but that's not the point. The point is what Mario would do with the Bears.

Mario Williams would open up so many possibilities for this Bears defense. Mario's mere presence would make it impossible for opposing offensive lines to double team both him and Peppers. Teams would have to pick their poison with their blocking schemes, and the match up problems become even more difficult since Peppers occasionally lines up at the 3 Technique, and Mario has no issue with being a stand-up linebacker/edge rusher on third downs like he was last season.

Finally, in this pool of available free agents, Mario Williams is the safest bet in terms of acquiring a game changer. Quite Frankly, this free agent pool is very sub par if you think about it. I've already gone over what I don't like about Jackson and Colston. If you feel Cortland Finnegan, Red Bryant, Matt Flynn, Brandon Carr, or Pierre Garcon are better bets than Mario, that's fine, but I'm not comfortable spending large money on them versus Williams.

If we're really being honest about how bad this pool is, lets discuss the fact that a guy with 4 neck surgeries in 18 months - including two fused vertebrae and a damaged nerve that may or may not regenerate, and hasn't been seen throwing a football in two years......is about to get at least $20 million from somebody simply because he's Peyton Manning.

Add all of that up, and Mario Williams makes a lot of sense and hopefully a lot of Bears dollars.

Yeah....This Actually Happened

Mutiny On The Bounty

The NFL continues to remind us that their footprint does indeed last 12 months per year, as news broke on Friday that the New Orleans Saints implemented and orchestrated a Bounty System for a period of 3 seasons. The chief orchestrator behind the Bounty System was their now former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

The details of the Bounty System are as follows: players received $1500 for "knockout hits", $1000 for "cart-off" hits with payoff amounts doubling and tripling if they took place during playoff games. There also is a memo from the league that Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma put up a $10,000 bounty before a playoff game, as well as agent Mike Ornstein fronted the money for bounties at least twice. The investigation also concluded that bounty funds might have reached as much as $50,000 at one point.

The investigation into the bounties began after allegations arose that Saint defenders were targeting Kurt Warner and Brett Favre. As far as "who knew what when", Head Coach Sean Payton, and GM Mickey Loomis were very much aware of Williams' Bounty System. Even more galling, is that Saints owner Tom Benson also found about the Bounty System and told both Loomis and Payton to shut it down. Despite the mandate from Benson, Loomis and Payton did nothing to stop it.

There are also reports that Williams implemented a Bounty System when he was defensive coordinator for the Bills and Redskins.

The reaction has been pretty varied. Obviously Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke about it very foreboding terms, citing that player safety has never been more important than it currently is, and this behavior is in complete violation of player safety in addition to violating the rules and salary cap.

In terms of fans and media reaction, there has been everything from Doug Farrar of Yahoo Sports calling for a "lifetime ban" for Gregg Williams, to former player Matt Bowen pulling the "part of the game" card. Others are also pointing out that similar systems have existed for decades in the NFL, and that it's impossible to stop it, blah, blah, blah...

In my view, this is absolute garbage. 

First of all the league has rules against the Bounty System and they should be respected, even though they also have rules against taking steroids, and obviously those rules aren't being followed. Despite the league rules already in place, I don't necessarily have an issue with bounties being part of a locker room, or having a defensive coordinator orchestrate an entire system around it. My issue stems from a Bounty System encouraging/rewarding players to play with deliberate intent to injure, rather than for clean solid plays.

Bounties for interceptions, fumble recoveries, and touchdowns? Fine. Bounties for "Cart-offs", "knockouts", and "kill shots"? Hell no! There has been, and always will be a line in every level of football separating aggressive play designed to cause pain, and cheap shots designed to cause injury.

An example I keep referring people to is Bill "Romo" Romanowski. Romo was one of the dirtiest players whoever played the game. Among his most notable incidents were a helmet-to-helmet hit that broke Kerry Collins jaw...in a PRESEASON game. Romo also kicked Larry Centers in the head during a game, and most notoriously tried to break Shannon Sharpe's arm during a game. You can see footage of the Sharpe play here.

All of those incidents involved Romo trying to injure someone, versus taking out players cleanly, and they all cross the line between good aggressive play, and intent to cause injury. As a result, Romo was vilified and despised by both opponents AND teammates (see Marcus Williams). The reason for Romo's universal dislike is very simple: he played the game with intent to injure, and was justifiably seen as a dirty player.

It is this type of play that I feel Williams' Bounty System is encouraging, and there's plenty of evidence suggesting that it did occur with the Saints. From Adrian Peterson suggesting the Saints targeted his high ankle sprain, to Jay Cutler getting kicked in the throat during the Saints game in week 2, there's plenty of mounting evidence suggesting that the line is/was habitually crossed by the Saints.

I'm predicting that Goodell will be looking to make a bold statement in this situation. Goodell will make prominent examples of both Williams' and the Saints. I don't think it will be as big as a lifetime ban, but certainly will be along the lines of what the Spygate punishment was for the Patriots. Two Draft picks, Millions of dollars in fines, and definitely a half-season suspension for Williams' at least.

That's a good place to start.