MMQB Review: Pre-Free Agency Madness Edition

Last week in MMQB Peter King discussed Joe Flacco and Tom Brady's new contracts, as well as wondered why people insist on talking on the phone while exercising. Perhaps Peter should wonder why he insists on talking about what he thinks others should do in a national column. The world would be a better place if Peter could be elected Pope AND be the high moral authority for Catholics to emulate. He could help the world act the way he wants the world to act. This week Peter tell us what we can expect from free agency (and we all know Peter is exceptional at correctly guessing what will happen in the offseason) and tells us about his visit to a museum. We all know if visiting a museum is exciting, then getting to hear about someone else's visit to a museum can only be described as thrilling. 

Some of the front-office guys I speak to regularly were on lockdown over the weekend, not allowed to spill anything for risk of alienating a player or agent, or to imply that they have a deal done, which would be in violation of an edict Roger Goodell issued the other day, prior to a legal tampering weekend.

Even though no deals can be agreed to before Tuesday at 4, I'm sure some are on the verge of completion.

This is reporting, people. The NFL allowed a legal tampering weekend and Peter is sure there are deals that have been agreed to during this legal tampering weekend. So Peter is reporting NFL teams are using the legal tampering weekend to sign players to free agent deals. You can't get this kind of reporting just anywhere.

BREAKING NEWS: Teams are using the Combine to move players up and down their draft board.

Ten things I did hear as Sunday night turned into this morning:

1. The Ravens are going to trade Joe Flacco.

2. The Patriots are going to sign Ed Reed.

3. The Patriots are going to re-sign Aqib Talib.

4. The Patriots are going to sign Chris Gamble even though he has retired.

5. The Patriots are going to draft Ryan Swope and Manti Te'o in the first round with one pick.

6. The Ravens are not going to re-sign Joe Flacco.

7. Brett Favre thinks these are all good ideas.

8. Why is that barista not using the recyclable cup Peter bought?

9. Meryl Streep is fantastic.

10. Let Peter tell you about this episode of "The Office" that aired two years ago.

Miami didn't have much, if any, competition for a big-money deal ($11 million or more a year) for wide receiver Mike Wallace.

The joys of free agency. A team that has a position of need overpays for that position simply because they have the salary cap room to do so.

Arizona wants a running back, one NFC West source told me.

That NFL source? Anyone who has watched the Cardinals play a football game over the last two seasons.

It's probably too rich for their blood, and I think he'll end up with Detroit, but Reggie Bush is the perfect back for that offense.

Bush is perfect for the Cardinals offense because he's fast enough to avoid the defensive players who will look to tackle him behind a below average offensive line. Plus, it's not like the Cardinals have used a 1st and 2nd round pick on the running back position over the last 3-4 years. The problem is obviously the running backs and not the offensive line, so why don't they throw some more money at the position and see how it all shakes out?

The Browns, flush with money and a new owner, will be as aggressive as we've all heard. Another source said he thinks the Browns will have one of the top two young pass-rushers on the market, Paul Kruger of the Ravens or Cliff Avril of Detroit, signed by Tuesday night. My money's on Avril.

It sounds like Paul Kruger is going to sign with the Browns then. It's always fun to see teams with plenty of cash spend that money. Of course some of these teams have needs they want to fill, but they have this money, and dammit, they are going to spend the money.

If tight end Tony Gonzalez is headed back to the Falcons -- which Mike Silver reported is likely -- one person close to the Falcons told me it's at least in part because a golden network job hasn't opened for Gonzalez.

Wait, so Tony Gonzalez claimed all last season he was going to retire, few people other than the media believed it, and now Gonzalez isn't retiring? I'm shocked. Has this ever happened before?

I'm still not sure if the legal tampering window is helpful to the players. Seems more helpful to teams. Some teams were talking to agents over the weekend and implying that if your guy doesn't take what we're going to offer, we've got two or three others we can get for less money.

I feel like Peter doesn't quite get the concept of negotiation and using leverage to work out a better deal, no matter whether it is the player or the team trying to work out a better deal using leverage. NFL teams may say they have other guys they can get for less money, but it doesn't mean this is true. They could simply be trying to lower the asking price for a certain free agent or scare the free agent into signing for the amount of money that team wants to sign that player for. It's impossible to know at this point if the legal tampering window helps the players or the teams more, but what NFL teams are saying to agents could very well be the result of posturing and negotiation. I feel like Peter doesn't understand teams will use the media for misdirection or try to further their own agenda.

I don't think Baltimore should play hardball with Anquan Boldin.

They didn't. They traded him. 

Cash due to some upper-tier receivers in 2013: Santonio Holmes, $11.25 million. Sidney Rice, $8.5 million. Stevie Johnson, $7.33 million. Miles Austin, $6.73 million.

Cash due to Anquan Boldin in 2013: $6 million.

How many of those receivers are probably a little bit overpaid? Simply because other teams want to pay a lot of money for an upper-tier wide receiver doesn't mean the Ravens should want to. He had a great postseason, I can see why the Ravens traded him. I don't know how Peter can be as shocked as he was when the trade went down. The Ravens said less than a month ago painful decisions about veterans will have to be made. They tipped their hand on this one and Peter was still surprised.

News came down over the weekend that the Ravens want Boldin to take less money to stay -- $2 million less, according to the Baltimore Sun. To me, there's just no logic for this.

Well, there is logic in this request. Logically, if Boldin had given up $2 million then the Ravens could re-sign Bryant McKinnie, Paul Kruger or Darnell Ellerbe. Is it a smart request to make given how well Boldin played in the playoffs? Well, that's a different story. The request had logic behind it though.

Ravens officials and players will be on hand to watch highlights of the season and mostly of the playoffs, and if they see what I saw, they'll say, What a dominant postseason Boldin had. How can we make a guy who played as well as he did take a cut?

My biggest issue if I am Anquan Boldin is how Joe Flacco gets $120 million over six years while I take a pay cut when I bailed Flacco out quite a few times in the postseason and helped him get that big contract? Flacco plays well and gets $120 million while Boldin plays well and is asked to lose $2 million? That's my issue if I am Boldin and why I'm not unhappy to be traded.

Of course Steve Bisciotti and Ozzie Newsome said some guys weren't going to be back and tough decisions would be made. Here we are.

And, to my surprise, the Ravens, who could lose two valuable front-seven players (Paul Kruger and Dannel Ellerbe) in free agency, may have to look at a receiver or tight end in the first round of the draft. I just don't think it's worth saving $2 million to try to win without a supremely valuable weapon.

If the Ravens had gotten Boldin to give up $2 million or outright released him then they could possibly have enough money to sign Kruger or Ellerbe. Instead they traded him and got something of value back for him. I think that's the point of asking Boldin to take a cut, in order to help the Ravens sign guys like Ellerbe or Kruger. I'm sure Peter understands this or at least I hope he understands this. It doesn't quite seem like he does though. The Ravens just weren't randomly asking Boldin to take a pay cut for no good reason.

Get used to hearing from Dean Blandino. He's the NFL's new vice president of officiating.

Blandino will extend an olive branch to officials still bruised over the three-week lockout last year. He is investigating having focus groups with current officials to discuss topics to improve officiating.

Well, focus groups do fix everything.

It's too early to say how Blandino will be received by the league's officials, some of whom still are peeved at the league establishment of the replacement officials.

Holy shit, get over it. The regular officials were replaced for three weeks of last season by replacement officials. It's not like the NFL held their family hostage. Plus, isn't it the NFL officials who CHOSE to not officiate the first three weeks of last season because a deal with the NFL could not be reached? How can the NFL officials be peeved at the fact the NFL moved on when the regular officials chose to go on strike and not work NFL games? These regular officials chose to not officiate these games by holding out for a better deal.

So Jeff Saturday leaves with his body and brain intact.

That we know of. Jeff Saturday feels like his body and brain are intact, but many ex-football players don't feel symptoms from playing football until after they have retired.

Then Peter relates quotes from Jeff Saturday and Peyton Manning about how it felt to play with each other. It's all very touching. They did not relay any more information about this incident though. 

The best one: On the sideline at Denver in overtime of the divisional playoff game, safety Ed Reed and cornerback Corey Graham were talking strategy about the next series. Graham thought he had a read on Peyton Manning.

"I know what he's gonna do,'' Graham said.

"What he doing?'' Reed said.

"He's gonna throw the seam,'' Graham said. "I'm gonna get it."

I wonder how many times a player will claim on the sidelines that he is going to intercept a pass or score a touchdown and then it ends up not happening? We only hear anecdotes like this one because NFL Films carefully edits the sound footage, but I would imagine football players routinely claim to be able to make plays they don't end up making. It doesn't make what Graham said, and later did, any less impressive of course. It would be interesting in my opinion to know how many times these "called shots" turn out to be just bluster.

Well, you remember this from watching the game: Manning didn't throw a seam route on the play in question. Late in the Broncos' last series, Manning, with a minute left in overtime, rolled right, trying to find Brandon Stokley, and he threw a weaker pass than he wanted to across his body into the slot area,

Manning didn't really throw a weaker pass than he wanted to across his body. He did, mostly because every quarterback throws the football weaker than he would like, but Peter is sort of making an excuse for Manning here. Peter is making it seem like Manning threw a smart pass, but just didn't get enough on it. That's not entirely true. Manning threw across his body into the middle of the field with tight coverage on his receiver. It was a stupid pass. He got as much on the pass he could have gotten, but it was just a dumb pass overall.

Manning threw the ball toward Stokley, who was trying to break free to give his quarterback an open target, and Graham wrestled it from him.

The insinuation being that Stokley wasn't open upon having the pass thrown to him. Again, it was a stupid pass. It's okay for Peter to say it even though he clearly doesn't want to.

The DVD, which comes out Tuesday, also yielded these nuggets:

Nuggets of delicious goodness. Burger King nuggets though, not those shitty nuggets from McDonald's.

Just before Ray Rice got 29 yards to covert a 4th-and-29 at San Diego Nov. 25, Ray Lewis was captured on the sidelines saying, "Gotta isolate Ray. Isolate Ray!'' Joe Flacco checked down to Rice, isolated.

In fairness and attempting to not ignore the genius that is Ray Lewis, I would say isolating one of the best players in the NFL on a defender is generally a great idea nearly all of the time. I don't think it was foreseeable that Rice could pick up 29 yards being isolated on a checked down pass, but I guess we should just pretend Ray Lewis is a soothsayer. Isolating Ray Rice is always a good idea. On fourth-and-29, he still had to shake tackles and cause defenders to miss in order to convert though.

Flacco on the podium on the floor of the Superdome, told he was getting a car for being MVP: "Do I get a car? Really. I get a car!"

He's so humble! Either that, or Flacco is stupid, because I thought it was widely known the MVP of the Super Bowl had a car given to them. I remember hearing tales of Eli Manning receiving a car the year before when he won Super Bowl MVP. 

I hope the $120 million contract doesn't change Flacco. I would hate to see an elite quarterback like that have success go to his head.

"Fifteen million for a corner? Not me."

-- Bill Parcells, the former NFL coach, on Sunday's "Parcells and Polian Free-Agency Preview" on ESPN, discussing with former GM Bill Polian how he wouldn't break the bank to pay cornerback Darrelle Revis of the Jets. Good show, by the way. Well-reffed by Trey Wingo.

Thank you. Finally someone with some sense. Now that Peter's personal hero Bill Parcells has said breaking the bank for a cornerback is a bad idea maybe Peter will stop talking about how the Jets should bend over backwards to make Darrelle Revis happy. I doubt it, but if anyone can cause Peter to think overpaying for a cornerback is a bad idea then it is Bill Parcells. He's like a hero to Peter.

"Without him, we don't win the Super Bowl. He's a huge part of this team and someone I want to see back.''

-- Joe Flacco to USA Today, on teammate Anquan Boldin's apparent steadfast belief he shouldn't take a salary cut to play for the Ravens in 2013.

Says the guy who just got a $120 million contract. It's easy for Flacco to say he thinks Boldin shouldn't have to take a salary cut to play for the Ravens in 2013 because Flacco has already gotten paid. Boldin is being asked to take a pay cut. Maybe Flacco should have specifically held off from taking $2 million extra in 2013 so the Ravens could re-sign Boldin? Nah, he wants his. Obviously Joe Flacco isn't the only reason the Ravens want Boldin to take a pay cut, but it's interesting for a guy who just got a new lucrative contract to bemoan the Ravens asking another player to take a pay cut. It's almost like there is a connection there.

Then Peter points out that Cliff Avril is probably going to be overpaid in the free agent market. It's free agency, that's what happens. Team overpay for players.

In 1996, the San Francisco 49ers signed a 34-year-old pass rusher set free by the Atlanta Falcons, a former first-round pick Atlanta believed was in decline after he'd had 16 sacks in his previous two seasons.

In 2013, the San Francisco 49ers may sign a 34-year-old pass-rusher set free by the Atlanta Falcons, a former first-round pick Atlanta believed was in decline after he'd had 19.5 sacks in his previous two seasons.

It seems that Peter King is pulling a "Gregg Easterbrook" here and thinking NFL teams only release players because they think those players aren't good enough to keep around. This is very much incorrect. There is this thing called "the salary cap" and it is a big reason some players get cut.

For example, the Falcons saved $6.5 million in cash and $5.75 million in cap space by releasing John Abraham. The amount of cap space he took up is probably the biggest reason he was cut. Obviously his age had something to do with it, but either they didn't want to rework Abraham's contract or he wouldn't rework his contract, so he got cut. Performance very well could have been considered in conjunction with Abraham's salary.

Chris Doleman played three seasons with San Francisco. He had 15 sacks in 1998, at 37.

John Abraham, your move.

Go to San Francisco, John Abraham, and you will have 15 sacks in 2013. Peter King guarantees it.

Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week

Spent part of the weekend visiting family in Pittsburgh, and my nephew Vince set us up on one of the great field trips I've made in a long time. We visited the Roberto Clemente Museum about two miles north of downtown, set in an old firehouse, of all places, which was reclaimed and refurbished by professional photographer Duane Rieder, a Clemente fan who has become the curator of the museum. Rieder gives private tours, and we were fortunate to get one Friday afternoon.

I am sure it is great. Visiting museums is fun. Hearing about someone else's visit to a museum is not fun. It's like seeing a slideshow of vacation pictures that someone else took. It is fun to see the pictures, but most of the fun and enjoyment doesn't translate to those people who weren't able to attend. So this museum sounds awesome. It's best to keep this one short, which of course Peter doesn't do.

It's such a different museum.

So there is no art, a planetarium or recreations of long-extinct animals in the Roberto Clemente museum? The least they could have done is stuff Clemente's body and put it on display.

But I loved the quirky things. The movie contract for a $2,000 cameo in the 1968 film The Odd Couple, for instance. The contract was returned to Clemente because he hadn't initialed to affirm the role he'd play -- a famous ballplayer who'd hit into a triple play. He never initialed it because he said there was no way he'd ever hit into a triple play, and so there's no way he'd allow himself to be portrayed in a major motion picture as hitting into one.

Well then. I am sure if the role involved Clemente receiving a massage from three naked women he would have not allowed himself to be portrayed on film doing that either.

There's a wine cellar in the museum. Rieder buys wine grapes from different parts of the world and makes his own wine right there, aging it in oak barrels the same as you'd see in Napa. There's Clemente Cabernet, and a Chianti with a Franco Harris label, and others. We sampled the zinfandel. Good stuff.

Rieder's an incredible storyteller.

It sure sounds like it. He should definitely be on VH1's "Storytellers."

On the top floor of the place, he tells about a Yankees trip to Pittsburgh during the 1927 World Series. Lou Gehrig wanted to get away from the crush of Babe Ruth fans at the downtown hotel, and he had a friend who just happened to be a Pittsburgh firefighter. So here, right on this floor, where the firefighters of Engine Company 25 bunked, is where Gehrig slept during his down time in a Series in which the Yankees swept the Pirates.

This would have been an incredible story only if Babe Ruth, Tony Lazzeri, and Earle Combs spent the entire day around Pittsburgh trying to find out where Lou Gehrig had gone to, then had run into Jack Dempsey after stealing his tiger, had Al Capone pop naked out of the trunk of a car and finally realized that Gehrig was at the firehouse with Engine Company 25. Then all four of them could have hopped in a car and made to the game in time. That would have been an incredible story.

I couldn't recommend a living-history museum any more enthusiastically.

So I take it the coffee the museum served was good?

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think the trouble with trading for Darrelle Revis at any time before October is mind-bogglingly simple:

The first three things Peter "thinks" all deal with Darrelle Revis. Not that Peter is obsessed or is any way responsible for running this story into the ground of course.

How can a team trade for Revis when it doesn't know how healthy he is coming back from ACL surgery, and when it doesn't know what it's going to take to get him signed long-term? If the Jets trade him during the early days of the new league year, which begins Tuesday, they'll be dealing him having no idea what his true value is.

While I'm not disagreeing, this is exactly why the idea of not ponying up more money for Revis or the Jets attempting to trade Revis are both good ideas. The fact we don't know if Revis is healthy or what it will take to get him signed to (another) long-term deal is why the Jets should look into trading Revis.

2.I think, still, the best thing for the Jets to do with Revis is to sign him long-term.

This despite the fact Peter just said it wasn't smart for another team to trade for Revis because they won't know if he is healthy. So it is smart for the Jets to sign Revis long-term despite not knowing how healthy he is, but it isn't smart for an NFL team to trade for Revis because they won't know about his long-term health? I don't see the difference, other than a team giving up picks to acquire Revis.

And I understand the reasoning of smart people like Parcells and Polian, who say they wouldn't pay a corner so much money. But if I'm sure by Labor Day that Revis is still Revis, I do everything in my power to sign him.

Yes, but for the Jets to find out if Revis is still Revis then the Jets may have to give him a new contract before September. Otherwise, there's a chance Revis holds out. So why is it smart to hold on trading for Revis before we know his condition, but it is smart for the Jets to sign Revis long-term without knowing his condition? I think Peter has a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation. There is a chance Revis holds out without a new contract, so why is it smart for the Jets to sign him long-term? Shouldn't they be as cautious as a team that would trade for Revis?

3.I think, however, that I will never own the Jets, and the man who does, Woody Johnson, has it in his head that he'll never reach a fair deal with Revis, and so wants him gone.

And given Revis' reputation, his health and unsure contractual status this probably isn't a bad idea. Percy Harvin just returned a 1st round pick and a couple other picks. If Revis returns a first round pick and a couple other picks I think the Jets should jump on it. I realize it is sounds dumb, but if the Jets have needs at other places on the roster (including cornerback) then why not use the best lockdown corner in the NFL to fill other need areas? Revis wants a new deal, so he's only getting more expensive as the questions about his health mount. He is the best cornerback in the NFL when healthy, but a strong cornerback isn't like a strong quarterback. Having the best cornerback in the NFL isn't a great way to make the Super Bowl. Looking at the cornerbacks for Super Bowl teams over the last decade goes to help prove this.

4. I think when you hear as much noise as we're hearing out of Denver. that Elvis Dumervil has to take a pay cut or he's gone, well, a guy like that is usually gone. He'd be a good consolation prize (above Dwight Freeney and John Abraham, below Paul Kruger and Cliff Avril) for those teams needing a pass rusher who don't want to spend really big to get one.

And apparently Elvis Dumervil isn't going to want a lot of money to sign with a team? It seems to me like a 29 year old pass rusher with 37.5 sacks over the last three years would be highly sought on as a free agent, but apparently not. I'm not sure in what world Paul Kruger or Cliff Avril will get a lot more money than Dumervil will receive, but I don't think it is the NFL world we currently live in.

5. I think the football world would like to see you run well before the draft, Eddie Lacy. I go back to the draft four years ago, when Tennessee's Arian Foster had a bad hammy and never could run well before the draft, and he fell out of the seven rounds completely. Of course, Lacy won't go undrafted. But someone will need to see him healthy before the draft to take him in the first round.

While being true, is Arian Foster really the best example to use when talking about a college running back who was hurt by not running before the draft? Sure, Foster was undrafted, but he got to pick his team and it has turned out pretty well for him.

6. I think there's one important thing to remember: Washington won free agency at least three times between 2000 and 2009 and finished above .500 twice in that decade. So if you're a fan of the Browns, I don't know whether to tell you to root for Jimmy Haslam to spend $120 million in the next 48 hours, or tell him to wait for middle-class free agency, when good players are waiting to play for 30 cents on the dollar. No games are won in March.

8. I think the Colts will surprise people with a flurry this week.

Far be it for me to criticize the Colts spending money since they have the cap room and all, but paying 30 cents on the dollar worked out pretty well for them last year. It's all the fault of the fans. They want their team to spend money and use the salary cap room they have. I probably should blame the fans for wanting to see the Colts make a splash. If you can't tell, I tend to hate it when teams spend a lot of money in free agency.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

c. I did watch Canada-USA baseball Sunday, against my better judgment after the brawl Saturday in Canada-Mexico. How, possibly, does that Pier 6-er in the ninth inning of the Canada-Mexico game generate zero suspensions? Ridiculous.

d. Big shock, Alfredo Aceves being that unstable. Red Sox followers are stunned.

e. The right calls would have been to have Canada have a couple of brawlers banned from Sunday's game, and Mexico's fighters banned the first game in their next tournament, if they play in another one.

Since this pertains to the same topic, is it really worthy of three separate letters? I feel like Peter King isn't quite sure how outlines are supposed to work. But hey, it's his column I guess.

h. The last season of The Sopranos ought to be in the Smithsonian. What perfect TV.

Yep, if this were 2007 then I would think this is a relevant comment. Unfortunately, it is 2013, plus the last season of "The Sopranos" wasn't perfect television. That's another discussion for another day though.

l. Beernerdness: Nothing new this week. I'll have to make it up next weekend in Phoenix for the NFL Meetings.

Please don't feel this is necessary.

m. If you're out to see the new Selena Gomez/James Franco movie Spring Breakers this week, 

Then you are either a pre-teen girl/boy or don't have access to the Internet to see young women wearing bikinis?

check out the judge in the courtroom when some of the young ladies run afoul of the law. That's veteran of the silver screen John McClain, the NFL columnist for the Houston Chronicle.

You know, Roberto Clemente would turn down this role for the sake of realism because he would never be a judge. He didn't even go to law school, so how could he be a judge?

The (Free-Agency) Adieu Haiku

George Young always said,
"They don't play better for more
dough." Buyers beware.

Same thing for the Jets,
Beware giving extension
to injured players.