The Franchise dead-line came and went and a lot of names came off the board, while a lot of names remain.
Some of the key guys who were franchised yesterday:
S Ken Hamlin, Dallas: My boy Hamlin is off the board. Fuck, fuck, fuckarooo!!!
CB Nnamdi Asomugha, Oakland: Dude with the mad skills and the mad name was not only franchised, he was "exclusively" franchised, which means he's not free to sign with any team no matter the compensation. Damn they nailed his ass down.
OT Max Starks, Pittsburgh: Starks was tagged as a 'Transition' player, which means we can offer a contract but the Steelers can match whatever offer we give. That's not likely to happen.
The other big names that were franchised: LB Terrell Suggs, CB Marcus Trufant, OT Jordan Gross, LB Karlos Dansby, DT Corey Williams.
So, what does this all mean? It means guys like OT Flozell Adams and Alan Faneca are free. Armando Salguero says the Dolphins are very much in the hunt for Faneca (my No. 2 ranked FA O-lineman). Like I said, the dude is a monster (don't make him angry!). And at 31, still has plenty of football left in him. So, I'm giddy with this bit of news. Giddy, I say.
Another top FA player that'll be available is LB Lance Briggs. The Bears did not franchise him and Peter King has mentioned Briggs as a possible target for the Fins. The good news here is that the Dolphins not only hold the number one overall pick, and not only hold the number one ranking as shittiest team in the NFL, but also rank number one in the NFL as the team with the most money under the cap ($44.995 million). So there's money to spend.
Elsewhere, the Falcons won the coin toss this morning and officially hold the No. 3 overall pick. There's a rumor going around that the Giants are trading their 31st overall pick to Atlanta for uber-talented and uber-all-around-douche, cornerback DeAngelo Hall.
Several things can be gleaned from this, and by gleaned I mean completely made up scenarios by me: Looking to move up to take Matt Ryan and needing to give Miami their first and 2nd round picks to get it done, Atlanta would now have two picks in the first round (3rd and 31st) and therefore be more inclined to part with that second rounder to make the trade with Miami. Or, they can use their newly acquired 31st pick and swing it along with their No. 3 to the Fins for the No. 1, if that's what Parcells says it takes to get it done. In all likelihood one of you asshole-know-it-all commenters* is going to come in here and shit on my parade and shoot down this scenario. But fuck you. It's my blog and I make up shit around here as I see fit. Shit, if PFT can do it...
Anyway, yea, Miami needs to trade down and get more picks. Atlanta seems like the best chance for that to happen. So I'll just end this post by saying: Damn! Matt Ryan is the greatest quarterback I've ever seen! Dan Marino? Peyton Manning? Tom Brady? Pfft. Pussies! Ryan is the guy you want when you're building a dynasty! Damn I'm so happy we have the first pick! Ryan will lead us -- or any other team that drafts him -- to like, 8 or 9 Super Bowls!!!! You heard it here first!
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*I love you, commenters. And If love can be avoided by simply closing my eyes, then I wouldn't blink at all, for I don't want to let a second pass having fallen out of love with you. XOXOXO LOL Tee-hee.
