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There are plenty of reasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their fans to be optimistic.

After finishing 3-13 in 2009, the Bucs, who were the youngest team in the league last year, made a seven-game improvement in their wins total on a year-over-year basis and barely missed the playoffs.

That's the good news.

Yesterday the team's top cornerback Aqib Talib created (the bad) news, however, when the Dallas Observer reported that Talib was a "person of interest" involving a shooting that occurred in Garland (TX) on March 21st.

Not only is he a "person of interest," Talib will be charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony, when he turns himself in to police this week, per Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times.

Talib, who was the team's first-round pick in 2008, faces up to 20 years in prison for the second-degree felony.

"We are deeply troubled by the serious charges filed against Aqib Talib,'' Bucs GM Mark Dominik said in a statement (via Stroud). "Due to current labor circumstances, we will withhold any further comment or action."

During the NFL lockout, teams are unable to contact players or make transactions, such as releasing Talib. So, for now, Talib is still a member of the team.

More than likely, however, that will change once the lockout ends.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 06:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Floyd was arrested on the school's campus for drunk driving early Sunday morning, per WNDU-TV in South Bend (via College Football Talk).

Per WNDU-TV, Floyd is scheduled to appear in court on April 2nd.

This is not the first time that Floyd has had legal troubles involving alcohol.

In January 2010, Floyd was cited for underage drinking in his hometown of Minneapolis. With blood on his shirt and hands, Floyd told police then that he was involved in a fight at a party when he and Minnesota running back Shady Salamon, who was driving and charged with DUI, were pulled over.

Floyd, who decided to return for his senior season at Notre Dame, finished with 79 receptions for 1,025 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2010. For his career, he ranks second in receptions (171), third in receiving yards (2,539) and first in receiving touchdowns (28).

ESPN's Mel Kiper has Floyd ranked as the third-best wide receiver prospect in the 2012 NFL Draft behind a pair of Big 12 receivers: Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon and Oklahoma's Ryan Broyles.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When it comes to the quarterback position, the Philadelphia Eagles are dealing from a position of strength.

Literally.

If anyone other than Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had received votes for the NFL MVP award, that player would have been Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who was named AP Comeback Player of the Year. And backing Vick up is Kevin Kolb, who has made his preference known that he'd like to be a starter in Philly or elsewhere. Considering Kolb's (relatively) low salary of less than $2 million, the Eagles can sit back and be patient with potential offers.

And that's exactly what coach Andy Reid says they will do.

"People have shown a little interest (in Kolb), and as this thing picks up, I’m sure it will continue," Reid said, per Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News. "Listen, we’ll sit back and we’ll evaluate."

"I mean, this guy is a helluva football player. You look at his numbers and the things he did when he had the opportunity to start, and you start six or seven games and you’re the NFC Offensive Player of the Week twice, and all the 300-yard games he put together and the way he commands the offense and all these things, you’re not in a big hurry to get rid of Kevin Kolb."

The major complication in dealing Kolb would be the timing of the next collective bargaining agreement (CBA). There are plenty of teams in need of an upgrade at quarterback, but until there's a new CBA in place, trades cannot be made.

If a new CBA isn't in place before the 2011 NFL Draft (April 28-30), a deal including 2012 draft picks would then be more difficult, especially as some of the teams that need a quarterback upgrade will have drafted a top-tier quarterback, such as Missouri's Blaine Gabbert or Auburn's Cam Newton.

Kolb, who was the team's second-round pick in 2007, completed more than 60 percent of his 189 pass attempts for 1,197 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2010.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From 1998 to 2009, wide receiver Randy Moss played for three teams: Minnesota, Oakland and New England. In 2010 alone, Moss played for three teams: New England, Minnesota and Tennessee.

Once there is a new collective bargaining agreement in place, Moss will be an unrestricted free agent

So, where would he like to play in 2011? Moss stated his preference on the radio today.

"I think that just the success as a wide receiver and everything that the New England Patriots stand for, you know, I'm a big fan of Bill Belichick's," Moss said on KFAN 1130-AM (via ESPN's Tim Graham). "I really am, and not just on the field. I'm a fan of his off the field because, you know, the little grouchy man that you see on-camera is not what you see off-camera.

"And people say 'Well, Moss, you got traded to Minnesota from New England!' Well, I just told y'all this is a business, man. People have to understand the nature of the business. It's not just a sport. The sport comes along with the business. If you really don't think it's a business, then why they sitting there, fighting over $9 billion?"

As Graham points out, there are a few reasons the Patriots may not make the business decision to bring Moss back.

The Patriots were 11-1 without Moss, who will turn 34 years old this year, and he allegedly had a heated exchange with Bill O'Brien, who was promoted to offensive coordinator this off-season, at the half of his last game as a Patriot last season.

Moss ranks fifth all-time in receiving yards (14,858), fifth all-time in touchdowns (153) and is tied with Hines Ward for eighth all-time in receptions (954). But from Week 8 to 17 last year, Moss had a combined total of seven receptions for 79 yards and no touchdowns.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Jets will bring back running back LaDainian Tomlinson in 2011, the final year of his contract, per Jenny Vrentas of the Newark Star-Ledger.

Tomlinson, the NFL's sixth-ranked rusher of all-time (13,404 yards), is due to earn $2.4 million next season.

According to Vrentas, L.T. will be used as a third-down back while third-year running back Shonn Greene will be the featured back.

Of course, Greene started Week 1 in 2010 as the team's featured running back. In that game, however, Greene didn't finish in the same role as he had two fumbles (one lost) in his five carries. Tomlinson finished with 11 carries for 62 yards.

Over the course of the season, however, the carries were close to evenly split: Tomlinson had 258 and Greene had 230. From Week 9 through the post-season, however, Greene finished with 143 carries to Tomlinson's 131.

There was plenty of hype surrounding Greene heading into 2010 and he obviously disappointed fantasy owners who used their second- or third-round pick on Greene. With the likelihood of a much more affordable cost on draft day in 2011, Greene could turn out to be a huge bargain if he comes close to realizing the expectations folks had for him last year.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 07:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw will probably get the highest tender as a restricted free agent from the Giants, per Ralph Vacchiano of the NY Daily News.

With the current labor situation, there's plenty of uncertainty about what the next collective bargaining agreement will look like.

But if the same rules carry over, the Giants would receive a first- and third-round pick as compensation if another team makes an offer and the Giants choose not to match it.

Bradshaw, the team's seventh-round pick in 2007, finished with 1,235 rushing yards as the team's featured back. He also caught 47 passes for 314 yards.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 07:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)