Pro Football Fan Site

If it were any other player, I’m not sure if this would pass muster as a blog item — let alone a news story. But because it comes from Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre (via his Web site), and given the uncertain nature of his NFL future, I figured I would pass along this statement:

I want to thank all of my fans for a memorable season. While the season didn’t end in Miami as we had all hoped, I couldn’t have enjoyed this season any more than I did.



When I decided to return to the NFL to play my 19th season, I did so with some trepidation. After all, I was joining a new team in a new city, for the archrivals of the “green and gold.” And I’m not getting any younger.



I couldn’t be happier about my decision. The coaches, staff, and especially teammates who joined me in the season’s journey are true professionals, and better yet, friends. I felt completely comfortable from day one as a member of the Minnesota Vikings, and it’s a tribute to the entire organization that accepted me with open arms. It was truly an amazing experience to be a part of the Minnesota Vikings this past season.



And to the fans — those in Minnesota, in Wisconsin, and across the country — I want to express my heartfelt thanks for all of the support and goodwill that you’ve shown me, Deanna, and the girls throughout the season. It’s truly humbling to know that so many of you are pulling for us.



Regardless of what the future holds, I want everyone to know that I will cherish the memories of the past year for the rest of my life.”

As far as we’re concerned, they key phrase is “regardless of what the future holds.” Based on the past two seasons, at least, we should get Favre’s initial version of his future plans within the next month. The free agent market is set to open March 5.

The New York Giants have released middle linebacker Antonio Pierce.

The timing seems a bit odd, but the decision shouldn’t come as a shock. The New York Giants have decided to release linebacker Antonio Pierce — and he seems OK with it.

“I was shocked at first, but I’m not the one up there up in the office, and they said they felt they needed to go in another direction,” Pierce told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols on Thursday. “They said it wasn’t my health, or the way I played, but just that — that they were going in another direction. We left everything smooth and peaceful and I’m happy about that — I felt like I said everything I needed to say to them. I’ve loved my time in New York and won’t have anything but good feelings about being with this team.”

Pierce was the emotional leader of the defense on the ’07 Super Bowl team. And even as his ability seemed to fade in ’08 and ’09, players still looked to him for leadership. He was in the New York area to have an MRI on the herniated disk in his neck when he stopped by to visit with coach Tom Coughlin and general manager Jerry Reese. Here’s something interesting that Pierce told Nichols:

“I have no wish list,” he said. “If I had a preference, it would be to stay in the NFC East, since I know the division so well. But I just want to go somewhere I can help a good team.”

Pierce was about to enter the final season of a six-year, $26 million contract. At 31, it’s not like he’ll command a huge contract with another team. But I think a team will sign him to a one-year deal to see if he can overcome the bulging disk in his neck. Even after being placed on injured reserve last season, Pierce remained on the sideline and encouraged his teammates. And it’s his influence in the locker room that will be remembered most by the Giants. Players such as Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka fed off Pierce’s emotion.



In talking to Mike Garafolo from the Star-Ledger this afternoon, Pierce didn’t show any animosity toward the Giants. In fact, he appears to be showing a lot of grace:

“If there’s anything anybody wants to know about me, it’s that I know for a fact I left a stamp on this organization, this city, my teammates,” said Pierce. “I know I made guys better, I know they learned from me. I know I taught them lessons and I learned lessons from them. It was perfect. It maybe didn’t end the way I wanted it to end. If anything’s disappointing, it’s that. Am I angry? I’m not angry. I’m very positive about everything. I feel that my career is far from short and over. I just have to do it elsewhere.”

“When we brought him in here, we were interested in A.P. for all of the dimensions he brought to the table — his leadership qualities, his natural charismatic ability to rally the troops, he loved football, he’s a very smart football player — he took great pride in studying the tape and knowing what everybody did on defense,” Coughlin said. “He had the ability to communicate assignments on defense as the leader in the huddle. He was a three-time elected captain here with the New York Giants. He demonstrated great leadership. He has been an outstanding football player. Think of the screen play against Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game and the tremendous play that he made. Had he not made that play who knows where that ball would have gone?”

So where do the Giants go from here? Jonathan Goff and Chase Blackburn have taken turns filling in for Pierce, but it’s not like either player really distinguished himself. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Giants thought about taking a linebacker with the No. 15 pick overall.



They’ll certainly find a player with fewer injuries and more speed than Pierce. But it will be virtually impossible to replace the competitive spirit that he brought to the Giants over the past five seasons.



If you asked me where Pierce is going to end up, I’d point to the Rams first. Head coach Steve Spagnuolo has immense respect for his former linebacker. And just because I know you’ll ask, I don’t think he’d be a good fit in Jim Haslett’s 3-4 scheme.

The champs have been crowned. Thirty-one other teams now head toward March 5 when free agency begins and the 2010 league year begins.



In the copycat NFL, everyone is already wondering how they match up to the New Orleans Saints.



Not everyone will toss their formulas and look to install the Saints’ systems. But it makes sense to look at how the Saints got where they are and set off “Lombardi Gras.”



And so here’s a look at the AFC South and how its teams stack up against New Orleans. (AFC South teams won’t be playing the Saints during the 2010 regular season; they’ve drawn the NFC East for next season.)



Houston Texans



The Saints are built around quarterback Drew Brees and the Texans feel they’ve got a Super Bowl-caliber signal-caller of a similar ilk in Matt Schaub. Like Brees, Schaub is accurate and capable of posting some serious numbers — he actually threw for 382 more yards than Brees did in the regular season. But Schaub had to throw more because he didn’t have a run game to match the one Brees worked with.



The Texans didn’t need to see the Saints’ path to the title to know their run game is insufficient. Coach Gary Kubiak re-emphasized Wednesday that his team will be committed to the run. That means finding a guy who can take a good share of the carries and work in some sort of tandem with Steve Slaton is priority one on offense.



A defense that can make big plays can supplement that sort of offense. The Texans have defensive playmakers in Mario Williams, DeMeco Ryans, Brian Cushing and Bernard Pollard. But they don’t have a guy like Darren Sharper, and free safety is clearly a spot Houston needs to improve to be championship-ready.



The big stat: The Saints averaged 39.4 yards per game and a full yard per carry more on the ground than the Texans in 2009.



Indianapolis Colts



We don’t need to say much here, as we just saw how the Colts measure up to the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV. Their offensive line and special teams didn’t match up well. They’ve allowed special teams to be an issue for too long, and need to look to upgrade those units. They can win with a less-that-fantastic run game. But when the Colts need that vital rushing yard, the line needs to deliver the blocking more consistently.



The big stat: While New Orleans led the league in average total yards per game (403.8) and Indianapolis ranked ninth (363.1) in that stat, the Saints were far more balanced (sixth in rush yards a game, fourth in pass yards) than the Colts (32nd and second).



Jacksonville Jaguars



It wasn’t only the Saints. Three out of the NFL’s final four teams got there largely because an elite quarterback led them there. David Garrard doesn’t fit the bill. I’m one of any number of commentators or analysts who don’t believe he does, and his coach Jack Del Rio has said it as well. I expect the Jaguars will be looking to upgrade the spot in the draft.



Jacksonville is not going to be built in the Saints’ mold, as it looks to prove a defensive, run-oriented team can grind away and knock off teams like New Orleans. But to be that sort of team at a playoff level, the Jaguars need to find a way to beat division-rival Indianapolis with some regularity. That means winning without an elite quarterback against an elite quarterback.



While we can debate the way to throw Peyton Manning off his game — blitz and look for ways to hurry him or complicate the coverages — we know the Jaguars don’t yet have the personnel to do either well enough. The pass rush will be as big an offseason issue for the Jaguars as anything.



The big stat: No matter how much the Jags want to run the ball, they need to score more. New Orleans outscored Jacksonville by a 510-290 margin over the regular season. That’s nearly two touchdowns a game.



Tennessee Titans



Stylistically, the Titans are going to be more like the Jaguars than the Texans or Colts, though Chris Johnson gives them a dynamic player who can match anyone’s most explosive option on offense. They won’t build to try to mirror the Saints’ mold; they will build intending to be ready to shatter the Saints’ mold.



To do so, they’ll need to rush the passer better and play stickier coverage — keys to beating elite quarterbacks. The Saints beat Eli Manning, Tom Brady and Tony Romo in the regular season before knocking off Kurt Warner, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning in the playoffs. Tennessee lost to Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and Philip Rivers, lost twice to Peyton Manning and split against Matt Schaub.



If Vince Young emerges as an elite quarterback, he’ll still be of a vastly different style than Brees. He had one receiver who averaged better than 13.7 yards a catch in 2009 while the Saints had three who were at 15.3 yards a catch or better.



The big stat: The 2009 Titans surrendered 31 passing touchdowns compared to the Saints’ 15.

AP Photo/Mike FuentesThe Eagles Asante Samuel may be a Pro-Bowler, but he’s not exactly a “shut-down corner.”

It’s been more than a month since the Eagles’ season ended in Arlington, Texas, but we’ve been able to mention the Donovan McNabb situation on a daily basis. It’s one of the most compelling storylines of the NFL offseason, but it’s not the most important issue the organization is facing.



If the Eagles don’t fix their defense, it really won’t matter whether it’s McNabb or Kevin Kolb behind center. I’ve already ruled out Michael Vick as the starter despite at least one report that the Eagles are just dying to pay the man his $5 million in 2010. (Since Vick is hosting at least seven NBA All-Star parties in Dallas this weekend, I’ll try to catch up with him.)



The Eagles failed spectacularly in December and early January, in part, because they had no answers for Tony Romo, Miles Austin, Jason Witten and Felix Jones. You can blame it on the departure of Brian Dawkins, a season-ending injury to middle linebacker Stewart Bradley or the death of defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. But the Eagles weren’t the only team in the league to face adversity in ’09.



The club can’t afford to obsess about the quarterback position this offseason at the expense of the rest of the roster. There’s simply too much work to be done on defense. Eagles president Joe Banner told the club’s Web site earlier this week that he didn’t think the gap between the Eagles and Cowboys was as wide as those final two games indicated. And that sort of sentiment should scare the hell out of Eagles fans.

Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRECoordinator Sean McDermott’s Eagles defense needs to find some answers in the offseason.

Sean McDermott’s defense had no hope against the Cowboys because there was not a single player who could match up with Witten. Assigning linebackers such as Will Witherspoon and Moise Fokou to cover Witten is an absolute farce. Even if the Eagles accounted for Witten, it just opened things up for Austin and Crayton across the middle.



The return of Bradley will certainly help the Eagles’ cause but this defense isn’t one player away from making noise in the playoffs. Everyone wants to talk about letting Dawkins get away, but I’d argue that the lack of depth at cornerback is just as big of an issue. You have to admire Sheldon Brown for playing through pain on numerous occasions, but that doesn’t cancel out the fact that he was a liability at times.



Asante Samuel will always go to Pro Bowls based on his gaudy interception totals — and those are important. But Samuel’s reluctance to make contact with ball carriers will continue to be a sore spot with coaches and fans. Let’s not act like Samuel’s a so-called shut-down corner. I’m pretty sure Deion Sanders was the last man to fulfill that role. Samuel is one of the biggest gamblers in the game, which makes the Eagles susceptible to the big play (Austin on the sideline).



I know it’s fashionable to talk about taking the “best player available” in the draft, but the Eagles better make sure that player can cover a wide receiver. Who do you guys trust in the Eagles’ secondary? I still think Quintin Mikell‘s a quality player, but he was exposed when he had to line up next to inferior talent.



I think the Eagles would be wise to either trade for a veteran safety or find one in free agency, like the Cowboys did with Gerald Sensabaugh last March. Sean Jones certainly wasn’t the answer last offseason and Quintin Demps is firmly entrenched in Andy Reid’s doghouse. I think it’s extremely difficult to ask a rookie to make an immediate impact at the safety position because of its complexities.



The Eagles were so desperate in the secondary at one point this season that they signed a former Mr. Irrelevant who couldn’t stick with the Detroit Lions. I would identify the best two or three cornerbacks in this draft and try to get one of them at No. 24. I know you’re not exactly set along the offensive line but teams such as the Colts (and even the Eagles) have shown that you can find starters in the later rounds.



Then there’s this little thing about finding another pressure player to take some heat off defensive end Trent Cole. And for the record, I don’t think it would be wise to dump a bunch of free-agent money into signing Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers, who might be asking for Albert Haynesworth money, which sounds ludicrous to me. Haynesworth, who is a couple years younger than Peppers, signed a contract that included $41 million in guaranteed money.



There’s no chance I’d make that type of commitment to Peppers, who had 10.5 sacks for a bad Panthers team in ’09. The Eagles spent roughly $30 million on defensive end Jevon Kearse before finally cutting their losses following the ’07 season. Kearse was younger than Peppers when he arrived in Philly and he was an enormous disappointment even before a season-ending knee injury in 2006.



The ubiquitous scout turned broadcaster/writer Mike Lombardi has suggested the Eagles trading backup quarterback Kevin Kolb for Browns defensive tackle Shaun Rogers. And isn’t a 31-year-old defensive tackle with a checkered past exactly what the Eagles need to finally win a Super Bowl?



No, I’m afraid there won’t be a lot of shortcuts available in trying to catch up with Wade Phillips and the Cowboys. Andy Reid and his new boy wonder general manager Howie Roseman are going to have to close the gap via the draft. The Eagles have obviously hit big on offensive players such as DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek and Jeremy Maclin in recent drafts.



Now, they desperately need to rebuild a defense that seemed to become old and slow overnight. Or maybe you agree with Banner in that those two blowouts at the end of the season were an aberration.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator George Edwards fended off virtually every question that dealt with individual players, continuously citing the embryonic “evaluation process” the staff is in.



“I just got in here the other day,” Edwards said Thursday in Ralph Wilson Stadium.



Edwards, speaking with reporters for the first time since the Bills hired him and announced they were switching to a 3-4 defense, didn’t mention a single player by name in a 33-minute Q&A session, but did discuss his general approach to the job under new head coach Chan Gailey.



“We will play aggressive, attacking defense,” Edwards said. “That’s what we’ll be looking to do. Right now, as we go through the evaluation phase, that’s what we’re look at it. We’re looking for tough, physical, smart football players.”



Well, who isn’t?



Edwards is optimistic he can help transform the Bills in more ways than how they line up on the field. He has gone through cultural and defensive overhauls.



Edwards spent the past five seasons as a linebackers coach with the Miami Dolphins and was one of the few holdovers when Bill Parcells came in as football czar at the end of 2007 and darn near cleaned house. The Dolphins went from 1-15 to AFC East champions in 2008.



“To see how they came in and changed the culture of that team in that short of a period of time was an invaluable experience for me,” Edwards said. “Did I learn a lot from that process? Yes.



“The process, that’s what people don’t realize. It isn’t just the win and loss. It’s the process of working towards your goals that you have to spend your time on. That’s essentially what we’re doing right now, trying to change a culture and getting to winning.”



A few other topics Edwards touched on …



His defensive priority:

“The No. 1 thing we’ve got to do is stop the run, especially here. That has to be a strength for us. Late in the season, with the weather and being a home advantage and the crowd noise, we’ve got to stop the run. Then we’ve got to do a good job of affecting the passer, whether it’s through pass rush, coverage.”

The importance of identifying a nose tackle:

“For me, it’s too early to say our noseguard will do this or do that or who our noseguard is. But it’s invaluable. When you talk about stopping the run in that 3-4 defense, it starts right in the middle. … That is a position you definitely have to concentrate on and you have to look at what you’re going to ask that guy to do. That’s a position where it’s imperative you get good play inside. Closing off the gaps inside as far as the run game, that’ll be a main emphasis for us defensively. That is a cog and a necessity to make sure you get the best fit at the nose position.”

The main consideration when moving a 4-3 defensive end to 3-4 outside linebacker:

“You’ll ask him to do a little more coverage-wise. He’ll have to have awareness of things in coverage. As long as you’re careful in what you ask him to do in coverage, he’ll have a chance to succeed. … Don’t put too much on his plate in terms of what you’re asking.”

His initial thoughts on Buffalo’s secondary:

“They’ve looked pretty impressive. Being in this division, I kind of had a feel for that. What you see on tape is a lot of guys with a lot of speed, a lot of athleticism to make plays down the field. They were able to get a lot of turnovers.”

The benefit of being familiar with the AFC East:

“Matchup-wise, from team to team, I do think it’s advantageous. I know what we used to do to stop certain teams in this division. From that aspect of it, knowing what you’d like to do in certain situations, that will help us. Knowing what you’re looking for as far as matchups in coverage, pass rush, attacking protections, it will help.”