Tony Romo, Joe Flacco, and What Bills QB?

It is Easter Eve, and all I can say is Holy God. The Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones must have the Tony Romo version of "tunnel vision".

I must precurse this conversation by saying that I am am a Bills fan. This, I am sure, will bring hell fire from the Cowboys fans that this reaches (if any at all).

 

Tony Romo, who was coming up on the end of his contract, was just signed to a 6 year extension worth $108 million. Of this amount, $55 million was garanteed. What? Romo is 32, and this contract

will keep him signed until he is 38. My money is he makes it two seasons of this contract, maybe three.

When I sit here and think about what happened in that negotiation, I wonder if Romo and his agent actually sat there with a straight face when telling Jerry Jones he is better then Joe Flacco, therefore asking for more up front money.

The Baltmore Ravens signed Flacco to a 6 year extension worth a more over total number of $120.6 million, however the number that counts is the $52 million that was paid up front. Yes, you read that right. Tony Romo was promised more money up front then Joe Flacco.

This made me start to think how differently the two franchises handled the contract extensions of their starting quarter backs. The Ravens told Flacco all season, that they would not extend him during the regular season. I am unsure if they were waiting for him to deliver, or fall flat on his face. However, after the Super Bowl victory and MVP performance this past February, Flacco said that Baltimore would pay. And they did.

With Romo, the Cowboys decided to give Romo Mucho bucks before he became a free agent, without proving anything other then he shines in the regular season in individual stat categories. Dallas should have let Romo hit the market, and see what kind of offers he would get. I would bet the farm no team would give him more guaranteed money then the reigning Super Bowl MVP (other then maybe Oakland).

Flacco put up some pretty sick numbers in the post season this year. He had a 55.3 completion percentage, 1,140 yards in 4 games with 11 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. These stats included throwing some pretty passes with perfect placement to his receivers throughout the playoffs. Flacco ran the table, beating the upstart Andrew Luck led Indianapolis Colts in Baltimore, then going on the road to Denver and New England. In the two games leading up to the Super Bowl, Flacco went into Peyton Manning's house, and then Tom Brady's house, and beat them. It is very easy to justify paying this quarterback, at the age of 28, the most lucrative contract in the NFL. He is the hot hand now, and earned that money.

Romo. What have you done for me lately? Cowboys fans should be asking that question. I will not argue, Romo's regular season stats are staggering. He completes 65% of his passes. Romo has thrown nearly double the touchdowns then interceptions (177 TD, 91 INT), and carries a 95.6 QB rating. It is hard to argue these numbers, and not justify giving this guy money to stay. The problem is, he cannot perform in the clutch. He has one career playoff victory in 4 games played. Joe Flacco had 4 wins in 2012 alone, and nine in his career to this point. Romo is not even the best Quarterback in his division.

The NFL East contains Eli Manning, who has two Super Bowl Championships, and corresponding MVP in those games. Washington drafted one of the most dynamic QBs in NFL history with taking Robert Griffin III, granted that Mike Shannahan's poor coaching decision to leave him in when injured doesn't end his career. I think if RGIII is healthy, he could end up being the best quarterback in that division. The Eagles are a mess at QB, so at least Cowboy fans have that.

I think this is a poor decision by Dallas not only in the money, but the length of the contract. Romo cannot, and will not continue to put up 4900 yard passing and 25-30 touchdowns per season. But in their defense, the QB market is thin, and I guess I would rather pay Romo then to try and trade for a Carson Palmer (or sign him as it appears he may be released due to Flynn Acquisition) from Oakland, or sign a free agent like Kevin Kolb or Matt Hasselback.

 

Speaking of QB problems, how about my Buffalo Bills. I was all in support of parting ways with Ryan Fitzpatrick. The experiment did not pan out, and it was time to move on. However, moving on requires viable options to replace him with. As of now, the Bills have Travaris Jackson, and Aaron Corp under contract at the QB position (Brad Smith is a push).

Jackson has not played a snap of competitive football since January 1, 2012. He sat on the sidelines in sweats all season, as the Fitzpatrick ship went down. I was dumbfounded at the fact that Chan Gailey could not see any reason to put Jackson in, or even dress him. Looking at the depth chart, he is currently the starter for the Buffalo Bill. That, scares me. The reason why this scares me, is the only other QB on the roster is Aaron Corp, and undrafted free agent that spent last season at home after the Bills cut him in the summer.

Recent rumors had the Bills looking at Matt Flynn from Seattle, of which fell through as it seems he is going to Oakland. This means the release of Carson Palmer is inevitable. The last thing I heard everywhere, is that the Bills want to give a look to the recently released Kevin Kolb. Ugh. The market is so thin, that Palmer and Kolb are going to be the best options. At least Palmer can throw down field, and could become the 'Drew Bledsoe' of the 2013 season. I see Kolb as no upgrade over what Fitzpatrick was.

I hope the Bills use the #8 pick in this years draft on a QB. My money is on Matt Barkley. He seems to have healed well from a shoulder injury, and appears ready for the draft. I am not going to fake being a draft expert, as I am not. I just hope that the new Bills brass is not blinded by the Orange glow emitted by Ryan Nassib out of Syracuse. It could, and may happen. I just do not want to see a pick made with our hearts. I want to see it made with our heads.

That's all for now. Tired.

@Alindz99 : twitter

The NHL Market is officially open.

In the last 48 hours, there have bee some interesting developments in the NHL trade market, and the rumor mills on the Internet.
1. Let's start with the Brendan Morrow deal.
On Sunday, the Penguins made an offer to the Dallas Stars, to acquire their captain Brendan Morrow. There are a lot of interesting properties to this deal. First, the Stars traded their captain. For the second NHL business year in a row, a team has packed the bags of it's captain and sent him off (On June 23, 2011 the Flyers traded Captain Mike Richards to the Kings just a day before the NHL Draft). This should show the NHL, and the Sabres in particular, that it is not fo paux to do this type of deal in the new NHL.
Trading the guy with the 'C' on his sweater, is no longer seen a violation of any Code.

Morrow was the captain of the Stars since the 2006-07 season, when the Stars asked long time Captain Mike Modano to step back and let Morrow into the role. I think the Sabres could take a page out of this in the Pomminville situation. Pomminville has not lived up to a captain type role, particularly this season. This could easily be seen as Jason's worst year since the 2005/06 season, his rookie year. His point production is not awful, but it is not spectacular either for a first line right wing. It is also not a good thing to hear boos at the arena when your Captain touches the puck and causes a turnover. Steve Ott has become the leader on this team. This is evident both on and off the ice. I would like to see Ott wearing the Captain C, and an extension placed for him as well.

Lastly, I think it opens the market for trades. If Morrow can land Dallas a top d prospect and a pick at the age of 34, I think the return on a more offensive winger like Pomminville is something Darcy Regier should look into and consider. Even with the lack of leadership shown this season by Pomminville, it should not be ignored he is younger (30 years old), has more offensive skill, and would come to your team as a possible player to resign to a contract after next year for an affordable price.

2. Next, I want to address the recent injury to Ilya Kovalchuk.

Tom Gulitti @TGfireandice

Devils say MRI on Kovalchuk's shoulder didn't show anything different than the X-ray, so 2-4 week projection for his recovery remains same.

 

Kovalchuk was recently diagnosed with a shoulder issue, that could render him out until the end of the regular season. A 2-4 week time frame for an injury, would place a lot of pressure on Devils GM Lou Lamoriello. The trade deadline is only eight days away, and the end of the season for the Devils is just over a month from now.

 

The Devils cold very likely, and probably should  make a play for a winger to replace Kovalchuk. Even though Kovalchuk is a left winger, I am positive if the right deal for a right wing came up, Lamoriello would jump at it. I think Pomminville could work here. Even with the recent acquisition of Matt D'Agostini from the Blues, I believe the Devils will look to upgrade. Pomminville could be a good fit here, and easily warrant a first round pick and a prospect. I would even consider taking a veteran like Clarkson, who I think would be a great addition to this roster. With the possibility of Dallas asking a top prospect and a 2nd round pick for Derek Roy, I see no reason why the Sabres at minimum could not ask that for Pomminville.



3. Penguins acquire defenceman Douglas Murray from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for their second round draft pick in the 2013 NHL Draft and a conditional 2014 draft choice.

Not sooner than I finish reading an article about how the Sharks were looking to unload Murray, I see that the Penguins, for the second day in a row, set the market. This time it was on a defenceman, for what could be seen as a steal, 2 draft picks. (The 2014 draft choice is conditional upon the Penguins winning two playoff rounds this year or the team re-signing Murray for the 2013-14 season. Should either event occur, the Sharks will receive the Penguins second round selection in 2014, should neither occur, the pick becomes a third-rounder: Credit to TSN.CA). 

Douglas Murray is by far anything other then a stop-gap, 4 thru 6 defenceman on a team. The 33 year old blue liner in in the last year of his contract being paid 2.5 million this year (al beit prorated to the lockout), and has never scored more then 17 points in a single season during his NHL career. He is  big (6-3 240),defensive minded, and was at the top of his team in blocked shots and hits. Does this remind you of anyone on the Sabres?

Insert Robyn Regehr. Regehr is smaller in girth (6'3 225), in the last year of a contract, and is always a big player when it comes to blocked shots and hits. He carries with him a full no trade clause, which required Terry Pegula and Ted Black to fly to Calgary for 2 days and woo him to come to Buffalo. I think given the opportunity to play with a contender for a Stanley Cup, Robyn may be interested. If he truly likes it here in Buffalo, you can always attempt to resign him after the season. I do not see how an exact duplication of the Pittsburgh / San Jose deal would not work here, with a conditional pick having the same parameters.
The Jets, Canucks, Red Wings, Blackhawks, Blue Jackets, Wild and Kings could all be good landing places for Regehr.

Thats it for now. #DoSomethingDarcy

 

Potential Trade Ideas for the Buffalo Sabres

Today, I play "Let's be the GM of the Buffalo Sabres". The trade deadline is on April 3rd, which is less than 2 weeks, and only a few games away. Let's take a brief look at where we are now.

Since March 1st, the Sabres have been able to secure points in 8 out of 11 games. This has moved them up from 14th in the Eastern Conference.

Before we get too excited, we need to realize that the Sabres are farther away than they appear to be. With the most important tie breaker being regulation and overtime wins, Buffalo is near the bottom of the league for the fewest of those types of victories. With all games played in conference in this shortened season, winning games in regulation becomes all that important. The Sabres have been unable to close out games this year. This combined with their slow start, is going to make this last month of games all that more important.

As the Sabres GM, you need to look at three different options:

1.  Fire Sale: Spread the word, sell everything you can. Veterans, stars, whatever. Sell and build for the future.

2.  Make a play to push for 8th: Trade the veterans with the expiring contracts, pick up youth, and hope for a playoff berth.

3.  Play for the win: Package your veterans, a star or two, get back some star power and load for a run.

Circling back around to an earlier point that all games played in conference this season, I would keep away from the Eastern divisions all together if possible as well as Detroit coming into the division starting next year.

·    Vancouver Canucks: With the recent injury news on Kessler and Booth being done for a while, Booth for the season, the Canucks could be looking to acquire a Veteran forward/center to solidify their forward corps. I see Vancouver looking for a savvy veteran presence, or an expiring contract. Players like Jochen Hecht or Drew Stafford may intrigue the Canucks, however I do not see them giving up much for these players due to the lack or production. Stafford has played better of late, and may bring more in return. I really like the Mason Raymond, a left wing who descent 2 way player, and gets some time on the power play. I do not see the Sabres making a play for Schneider or Luongo unless they unload Ryan Miller, which could happen. Looking at the Canucks system, they have a couple prospects in Darren Archibald and Alexandre Grenier. Both are right wings, with size. Archibald at 6'3 and Grenier at 6'5 would provide Sabres some much needed size and offense on the wings.

·    San Jose Sharks: The Sharks run is coming to an end. Thier roster has been intact for a few years now with the current players failing to take them to the final destination of the Stanley Cup. It has been widely talked about by NHL media on TV, internet and print, which the Sharks may be ready to tear down the walls and start anew. I would make the pitch to GM Doug Wilson for a big trade, to shake up both teams. Joe Thornton needs a new home. He has been in San Jose long enough, and could use a move to another team as a center piece in this deal. Martin Havlat plays the wing, and adds speed and offense that the Sabres desperately need. Ryan Clowe is having a tough go this season, having yet scored a goal, and Brett Burns is a high priced defenseman who was injured for a good portion of this season, would be a great addition to slip into the blue line here in Buffalo. Being a west coast team, I think it would be a great landing spot for Ryan Miller. The following trade would provide new starts for players who appear to need it, with some talent going back and forth as well. These are all contingent on players waiving no trades. The trade would have the Sabres taking on an additional $3,572,500 in additional cap space. This will easily be afforded with players such as Jochen Hecht, Robyn Regehr, Alex Sulzer, Jordan Leopold, and John Scott likely not to be resigned in the offseason and possible dealt at the deadline in some cases. These contracts alone present a cap savings of $9,595,000.

 

From San Jose: Joe Thornton 7.0m 1 year remain, Ryan Clowe 3.625m UFA, Martin Havlat 5.0m 2 years remain, Anti Niemi 3.8m 2 years remain, and Brett Burns 5.76m 4 years remain. ($25,185,000 cap hits)

From Buffalo: Tyler Ennis 2.8125m 2 years remain, Jason Pominville 5.3m 1 year remains, Ville Leino 4.5m 4 years remain, Ryan Miller 6.25 1 year remains, Andrej Sekera 2.75 3 years remain, and Jerome Gauthier-Leduc 870k 3 years remain. ($21,612,500 Cap hits)

·    Columbus Blue Jackets: The time to strike on the Blue Jackets in now. They are hot, and may be looking for that piece to get them into the top half of the Western Conference in order to get home ice in the first round. Columbus has 2 things I want: Nick Foligno and a first round pick (They have three in the 2013 draft). Their roster is young, with only three players over the age of 30. I would offer players in Jason Pomminville and Robyn Regehr and a 2nd/3rd round pick (Contingent on how far they go in the playoffs) in this year’s draft for Nick Foligno and one of the three first round picks. Pomminville is easily worth a first round pick, considering what was given up for Paul Gaustad in last year’s deadline deal with Nashville. Regehr would need to waive his no trade, of course. I would approach Regher and advise him that I had interest in resigning him this offseason, and explain to him I was trying to acquire something to make us better in the future.

These are the three teams I see the Sabres being a potential match with. There are other teams that could be looking for additions for playoff pushes, including Minnesota, Detroit and St. Louis. You could also see the Sabres try to swap with another team that needs a rebuild, like a Florida or Edmonton.

All in all, I think that Sabres need to make changes. Even if a playoff berth becomes a reality this season, I do not think that they can hang with the top teams in either conference for a 7 game series. That's why it is time to make the changes that will make this team competitive soon, not in five years.