11 comments MMQB Review: The Cowboys Are Pigs Edition

Now that Peter King has called Mike Vick a redemption story and basically jinxed the hell out of him, Peter is going to move on to jinx the hell out of another player. Ok, Vick isn't injured because Peter jinxed him or anything, but for Eagles fans it has to suck that Vick got injured because he was playing well so far this year. At least Kevin Kolb showed that those people who thought he was a terrible quarterback weren't completely right. He acquitted himself fairly well yesterday. This week Peter focuses on Donovan McNabb and LaDanian Tomlinson and gives us other NFL nuggets to chew and spit out.

Five very preliminary things I think:

1. I think I can't believe Kansas City is the only unbeaten team in the NFL on Oct. 4.

They had a bye this week. There was absolutely no doubt they would be unbeaten going into Week 5, therefore Peter had a full week to believe they could remain the sole unbeaten. It wasn't enough time for him to fully embrace this idea and now he can't believe it.

Now the Chiefs have to face the Colts. Let's see how long the Chiefs remain the only unbeaten after that game.

3. I think it's entirely possible Kyle Orton's better than Jay Cutler.

Tim Tebow should start for the Broncos this year! Tim Tebow's time is now!

4. I think the Ravens wouldn't be where they are this morning, and they wouldn't have won at Pittsburgh Sunday, without an excitable little competitor of a cornerback, Lardarius Webb.

I love the condescending-type tone towards Webb in calling him "an excitable little competitor." Why do I get the feeling Peter King would never call Brett Favre that? Is Webb 12 years old or something? How much would I bet that Peter King wanted to call him a "rascal?" The answer: a lot of money.

5. I think you can be 53, paunchy, skunk-gray of the hair -- and still pull off a little bit of an athletic feat. More later about the adventures of a newborn half-marathoner in northern New England -- yes, I finished, and there was no hospitalization involved.

The award winner for the fake award of "storyline Peter keeps running down his reader's throats I care the least about," is whatever story about Peter's family or himself he tells that week. You finished the race. Good for you. Let's talk football and focus less on you.

McNabb never delivered the voracious Philly crowd a championship, but he played his best and he showed class for 11 years, and on Sunday the fans responded -- stunningly, I thought -- with probably 85 percent cheers when he was introduced last in the pregame introductions.

There is no doubt in my mind that McNabb should have been cheered by more than 85% of the crowd. He was a great quarterback with the Eagles and even when he was tested with personnel moves he didn't like and given some competition at the quarterback position he rarely complained or created problems publicly. I don't know why Eagles fans would do anything but cheer for McNabb.

The Redskins could have done far more gloating than they allowed themselves after the 17-12 victory, but McNabb said all the right things, except the one sentence he allowed himself in the locker room when Mike Shanahan awarded him the game ball. "Everybody makes mistakes in their lives, and they made one last year,'' McNabb said in a moment captured by an NFL Films camera.

You mean Donovan McNabb has confidence in his ability to play quarterback at a high level in the NFL? I can't believe it! What a shocking thing McNabb said. I would have thought he would publicly claim he has declined drastically from being able to play quarterback at a high level. I can't believe McNabb has confidence in his own abilities.

Who knows? For one day he was right, and we'll see if for three or four years he turns out to be.

The test if the Eagles and Redskins did the right thing in the trade is being partially measured now. The move by the Redskins really wasn't a long-term move, but an attempt to be competitive now. For the Eagles, yes, three or four years is the time frame to measure the move.

Good thing it means nothing right now. Ranking the teams is an exercise in dart-throwing.

Ahem...Gene Wojciechowski.

Also, note how Peter says ranking teams is sort of pointless right now...yet later in this MMQB Peter will rank the teams in the NFL.

And isn't that great for the NFL at the quarter-pole -- that any of eight to 10 teams might have a legit argument to be the best right now?

(turns into Joe Morgan answering this question) No, it means there are no great teams anymore. There are no complete football teams like there used to be.

"You ever think you'd see a receiver running wide open in the end zone, in this stadium?'' I asked him.

"No,'' he said. "Not even close. That doesn't happen. But when he froze on the little pump, I knew it'd be open.''

(Peter King) "You know I am considered an athlete by some people. I ran a half-marathon the other day. Do my leg muscles look bigger to you Joe?"

(Joe Flacco) "I don't know Peter (begins walking away at a swift pace), they look fine to me. Congrats on the half marathon."

(Peter begins running after him) "I can catch you Joe...because I am an athlete. You can't get away from me because I am a runner." (Flacco breaks into a dead sprint and leaves Peter in the dust)

One postscript: Lardarius Webb is a very big reason the Ravens are waking up 3-1 this morning. With 10:13 left in the game and Baltimore up 10-7, Charlie Batch sent Mike Wallace deep up the right sideline into the end zone and lofted up a pass to him. Only problem was, Webb, the second-year corner from Nicholls (La.) State, ran with the speedy Wallace stride for stride. When the ball dropped down from the sky, it looked like it was right in Wallace's arms -- until Webb got involved.

"It hit both of our hands at the same time,'' Webb said. "I wanted the pick soooooo bad. Last year when we played the Steelers here, I didn't play, and it's such an exciting place to play I wanted to do something to help us win. It's such a pleasure playing here. And if I could have just intercepted that ball ... But to make the play, to stop him from catching that touchdown, was a great play. I was happy about it.''

The Steelers went on to score on the drive on a Rashard Mendenhall run, and so all Webb did was delay the inevitable.

Yeah...ummm...great play Lardarius Webb in breaking up that pass which changed the game by...making the Steelers use more plays to score a touchdown. Great game changing play that didn't change the game. I'm not trying to be down on this play or Webb's contributions to the Ravens team, but Peter used this play as an example of why Webb is a big part of the Ravens being 3-1, even though this play didn't change the game. I guess Gregg Easterbrook would say it was a "hidden play."

If I had an assistant coach award for the first quarter of the season, there's a good chance I'd reward secondary coach Chuck Pagano, because he has this group playing terrific football.

And if Peter had one meat he could put on a sandwich for the rest of his life, it would be salami. If Peter could choose one animal to ride into an NFL stadium upon, it would be a unicorn.

Very dissimilar to the last couple of years in San Diego. He rushed for 3.8 yards a clip in 2008 and 3.3 last year, and the Chargers had seen enough. We all thought we'd seen enough. Raise your hand if you thought Tomlinson was going to be anything but a relief pitcher for the explosive Shonn Greene with the Jets.

I did not raise my hand because I thought he would be even worse than a relief pitcher. I thought Tomlinson was done. I think I only said it 900 times. It wouldn't shock me if Tomlinson wore down some as the year went on, but right now he looks really good.

Agreed. Now I think the Jets need to make another good choice and make sure they don't burn out Tomlinson. He averaged 258 carries a year over the past two seasons, and it'd be smart if they kept him on a pace to get around 200, so he's the real Tomlinson come winter.

The real Tomlinson helps his team lose playoff games at home, so I am not sure the Jets want that Tomlinson.

I realize it might be an unfair day to make the comparison that Kyle Orton's better than Jay Cutler, but I'm not pitting the quarterbacks against each other on the basis of Orton's terrific road performance at Tennessee and on Cutler's feeble and concussed one in New Jersey Sunday night. This is about a body of work -- granted, not a deep body of work, but a 20-game stretch.

Oh how the sands of time and public opinion shift around Jay Cutler from week-to-week. Last week he was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and this week he is being compared to Kyle Orton...and losing the comparison. Who would have thought Mike Martz would run an offense that doesn't give a shit about protecting the quarterback? Shocking!

I thought it would be a good chance to take a 20-game look at the two passers. I was surprised by what I found.

QB W-L Pct. Yards TD-Int Yards per att. Rating Orton 10-9 .634 5,221 27-15 7.29 89.1 Cutler 10-10 .615 4,578 33-29 6.97 80.7

It doesn't look good for Cutler when compared to Orton.

You'll remember, this was supposed to be a lopsided deal favoring the Bears.

I don't remember it being a lopsided deal honestly. I remember it being a deal where the Broncos got back draft picks and a quarterback for a player who didn't want to be there anyway. I don't recall this trade being that lopsided honestly. I thought it was a good deal for both sides.

It's still very early, and we don't know if Orton can keep it up. He's going to have Tim Tebow breathing down his neck in a few months, I'd guess.

If by "months" Peter means "years" then I will say this is likely.

MVP Watch

This week, I'm going to do it a little differently. I'm not going to pick a one through five. I'm just going to pick five. There's not a clear number one, anyway. So here we go (listed alphabetically).

Peter will do anything to list Tom Brady and Peyton Manning first in the MVP Watch, including changing how he does it to list them first.

(I am kidding of course, but it is funny he ends listing them 1-2 in the MVP Watch when he probably thinks they are in that order anyway.)

Tom Brady, QB, New England.

Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis.

Haloti Ngata, DT, Baltimore. He's starting to have the kind of regular weekly impact the truly great ones have. His ability to be an athlete on one play and a brick wall on the next is very hard to find in the NFL.

Ngata is an athlete? Can he do a half-marathon? Probably not...though I am interested in his physical ability to morph into a brick wall. That's sounds interesting and possibly against the rules for him to do on the football field.

10. Chicago (3-1). Good Jay. Bad Jay. That first-quarter pick by Terrell Thomas at the Meadowlands last night was the classic bad play by Cutler, a risky throw in his own territory he never should have attempted. There haven't been many of those this year, but you never know when they'll rear their heads. That and Cutler taking way too much time to get rid of the ball led to seven New York sacks in the first 24 minutes of the game. Inexcusable. "I can't explain it,'' Cris Collinsworth said about Cutler's non-timeliness on the NBC telecast. "I just can't explain it.''

Dylan said in our podcast NFL preview a few weeks ago that he was concerned about Cutler playing in Martz's timing based offense. It sounds like Cutler still has a few things to learn work on, but I think he can get it at some point. Still, Dylan was exactly right because I think timing was a problem for Cutler last night.

11. Washington (2-2). I don't like the NFC East much,

No bigger lie has ever been told. Peter loves the NFC East.

Special Teams Player of the Week

Josh Scobee K, Jacksonville

The ball was spotted at the 49, making it a 59-yard attempt. Scobee kicked it perfectly, lofting it over the middle of the crossbar by three or four yards. Scobee ran around like Favre after his Super Bowl touchdown pass to Andre Rison 14 years ago. I don't doubt he was just as joyous.

Who else would you think Peter would compare running around the field in a fit of joy to? Only the most child-like player ever, Brett Favre.

Peter has to mention Favre in every MMQB, so sometimes it gets tough to do, but he manages to do it.

This doesn't deserve a monumental amount of coverage, but one thing should be said to the Cowboy veterans who delighted in spending about $2,500 per man (one estimate I heard for the 22 to 25 men who attended this dinner) as most of America struggles to pay for weekly groceries: Stop being pigs. It's disgusting.

Oh sure, now Peter is the everyday man. He must be taking a break from complaining about how difficult his chosen life of traveling around the country covering the NFL is to get down on the level of "the people." Yes, the same guy who complained his plane doesn't take off fast enough in Atlanta thinks the Cowboys are disgusting pigs. The same guy once complained about a hotel not providing complimentary coffee downstairs at 6am, when there is free coffee in the room, thinks the Cowboys should pay more attention to the struggles of the everyday person.

I came to a fork in the road in the middle of New Hampshire Saturday morning, orange- and red- and green-leafed trees on three sides of me, a half-hour into the New Hampshire Half-Marathon, and I saw this sign:

BRISTOL 10

As in 10 miles. My God! Ten miles to go. For a 53-year-old sedentary person, that was a slap in the face if there ever was one. All the while, smart runners like Amby Burfoot had told me entering my first half-marathon to run my race, don't think too far ahead, don't try to run a faster pace than you're used to. But no one ever said, Don't let the road signs beat you. BRISTOL 10. What a dagger.

Here is the Peter King I know. Fresh off telling the Cowboys to not spend as much money at a restaurant because there are people who can't afford groceries, Peter acts like 10 more miles in a half-marathon he voluntarily chose to do is the end of the world. "What a dagger."

But I had lots of help right about then. My runner brother-in-law, Bob Whiteley, is funnier out on the racecourse than he is in real life,

Oil check!

and he kept our six-man team pretty loose with a vivid (to put it mildly) story about, well, about his brother's loose bowels on a training run.

I'm guessing no one did an oil check on this guy's brother then.

In other words, we ran through rural New Hampshire and past choppy Newfound Lake and by some of the best foliage you'll see, down hills and up, and I never felt like I was working very hard -- because I had friends with me having a conversation like we were sitting around having a few cold ones.

What a dagger.

The sponsors of the run, Under Armour and Harpoon Brewery, and the town of Bristol, N.H., which put on such a fun half-marathon (and 10K and full marathon too), and Jon Kuniholm for coming from North Carolina, and my four other partners in the race, including my trainer Roberto Portocarrero, who makes difficult things happen, and my wife, Ann, for making the best pre-race meal ever made in a Residence Inn: pasta with her simple and wonderful basil-tomato sauce, swordfish and chicken breast, salad with a delicious vinaigrette, and sugar-free blueberry-raspberry Italian crostada.

Quit being pigs Cowboys players! You are disgusting! Quit throwing how much food you eat in the face of those struggling financially?

Anyone want to hear about the wonderful three-course meal Peter had before the race?

a. Jim Mora's interview of Mike Vick on NFL Network. Hearing Vick call prison "the best thing that ever happened to me'' was an incredible TV moment. It's the best interview in TV this year. And Vick adding he would never would have changed had he not gone to Leavenworth: "If that didn't happen, I wasn't going to change. I wasn't gonna stop fighting dogs. My mom tried to tell me, and it was in one ear and out the other.''

So Mike Vick DID know it was wrong to dogfight? This will be an important point later this week in a Bill Simmons post I am working on.

d. Haloti Ngata is such a force, and such a deceiving athlete, that I swear the Ravens could put him at defensive end in pass-rush downs consistently and he could get double-digit sacks.

Or he could morph into a brick wall upon demand. He's that kind of athlete...but not a runner-athlete like Peter.

f. Jimmy Clausen has to learn to throw the ball above the hands of the defensive linemen, not into their numbers. Sheesh.

I think it is clear that Peter King is not a Jimmy Clausen fan and that is fine. I would rather he not be. Clausen's numbers weren't great yesterday, but he as a rookie quarterback he almost went into New Orleans and pulled off a win against the Super Bowl champs in his second career start. He also converted a pretty fourth-and-four to keep the last drive alive (on a drive without Steve Smith). Normally these are things Peter King would compliment a rookie quarterback on.

For the second straight week Peter criticizes Clausen also for a problem that really wasn't the main problem in the game. The announcers repeatedly talked about how he needs to learn to anticipate his receivers moves a little better and get his team to the line of scrimmage faster in a loud environment. After last week's "stare down his receivers" comment and this week's talk about having to get his passes over the linemen, I am starting to think Peter should watch more carefully before criticizing NFL players because over the last two weeks his criticisms haven't really been on-point.

Clausen had three balls passes down and Drew Brees had two passes batted down. Clausen had a 90.6 passer rating and Drew Brees 90.2 passer rating. I'm just throwing that out there.

4. I think the quarterback crop for the 2011 draft is taking shape nicely, with one of the top prospects looking great for a half Saturday night in Eugene, Ore., before the roof fell in. I asked ESPN's Todd McShay to give me his top five college quarterbacks, and here's his list, complete with his projected overall pick in the draft in parentheses, or, in one case, a school returnee:

a. Andrew Luck, Stanford (1)
b. Jake Locker, Washington (10).
c. Ryan Mallett, Arkansas (17).
d. Blaine Gabbert, Missouri (return to school for senior year).
e. Christian Ponder, Florida State (46).

I'm going to prematurely and stupidly make myself look dumb. I don't think this is a strong QB class at all. I don't like Gabbert and I may be one of the few people who thinks Christian Ponder isn't an NFL quarterback either. I could be wrong and I may change my mind, but I'm not even that sure about Ryan Mallett. Locker has gotten a negative rap lately, but I still wasn't entirely high on him before that. Personally, if I had to rank these quarterbacks, it would be:

1. Luck
2. Mallett
3. Ponder
4. Locker
5. Gabbert

9. I think this could be Arian Foster's wakeup call --though I must say I didn't think he needed one. I had dinner in Houston with Foster 12 days ago, and I found him to be quite responsible and absolutely thrilled he was getting a real chance to be a big-time running back after his checkered past at Tennessee.

Here's what I mean about responsible: We sat at the restaurant for a good three hours. At the start of the evening, we each ordered a glass of wine. I knew we'd be there for a while, so after we'd ordered the wine, with the waiter still there, I asked Foster if he'd like to just order a bottle because we'd probably be there long enough to drink two glasses. Oh no, he said; he didn't want to drive after having two glasses of wine.

I like how Peter is giving Arian Foster credit for knowing how much alcohol he can drink and then drive a car under the legal limit. Some people may call this common sense and respect for the other drivers of the road and respect for the laws of the land, but it impresses the hell out of Peter King.

b. This is what I call paying it forward: A couple of weeks ago, I put two club seats to Friday night's Yankees-Red Sox game at Fenway Park in play for my www.runpeterkingrun.com fundraiser. The face value of the tickets is $340 for the pair. I asked for $500.

I guess it is isn't considered ticket scalping if the money goes to a charity? I will have to remember this next time I go to the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament.

h. I'll miss box scores for the next six months.

I guess baseball is over and no postseason is scheduled because Peter's Red Sox did not make the playoffs. I guess that means we can look for no Bill Simmons columns related to baseball too over the next six months.

e. Coffeenerdness: The most shocking thing about my run in the wilds of New Hampshire? I did it fueled by a non-Starbucks coffee. Dunkin' Donuts, you did just fine. Thank you.

Well Peter, the coffee all has caffeine and your body can't tell that much of a difference. I do think it is interesting (still) that Peter chided the Cowboys for spending that much money on dinner because of what the poor people of the world who can't afford groceries will think, but he doesn't mind talk about how he is spending $5 per cup on coffee.

17 comments It's a Peter King Mailbag!

I am not going to do my normal whining this week about Peter King's mailbag being too short, even though I probably just did whine a bit by just making that statement. Today he has a 2 page mailbag because the Eagles made a huge trade and he needs more room to discuss this trade that has elevated the Redskins from not being a playoff team to an outside contender for a Wild Card spot. The entire balance of the NFL has changed, don't you know?

Today, Peter talks about how the Redskins got McNabb, which is something I know at least 10 people are interested in. Peter is great at telling how things happen AFTER they occur, as opposed to actually getting information BEFORE things like this occur. If you ever need someone to give a recap of an event after it has happened, then Peter King is that. If you are looking for someone to actually break NFL news, then Jay Glazer is your man.

I am shocked he didn't tell us that Brett Favre's daughter had a baby in his mailbag (not literally a baby IN Peter's mailbag, though that would be interesting and possibly the highlight of Peter's life), I thought this would be something he would feel the need to share with the world. I wonder if he asked for the baby to be named after him?

While we can debate the wisdom/insanity of trading an in-his-prime quarterback within the division to a rival that desperately needs a QB,

And better wide receivers, an offense line, and probably a few cornerbacks as well.

we won't know for two or three years whether Eagles coach Andy Reid did the right thing for his franchise Sunday night in dealing Donovan McNabb to the Redskins.

This is somewhat factually incorrect. Kevin Kolb should be able to step in right away and play well and so should Donovan McNabb. We should actually know this year if Reid and the Eagles made the right move based on how these two quarterbacks perform. We may not know if the compensation for McNabb was satisfactory this year, but we will at least know after this season how the move from McNabb-to-Kolb worked for the Eagles.

From the fans in Philly unhappy with getting "just a second-rounder and something next year'' for McNabb, I'd say that's a pretty silly way to look at it.

You can trust Peter King on this as proven by the fact he is almost never correct about anything he predicts or says.

The third/fourth-rounder next year is currency, a chip for a Philadelphia team that aggressively trades picks and players and is married to no one.

They are married to no one except for their head coach that traditionally mismanages the clock and absolutely refuses to run the ball. Other than him, they are married to no one.

Let's look at the value they acquired using the draft chart first put in play by the Cowboys 20-some years ago to help Dallas make quick decisions on draft-day trades by assigning every pick a point value,

Yes, let's use the draft chart from 20 years ago that is semi-irrelevant in measuring draft pick value in today's NFL. That sounds like it would be an incredibly inaccurate thing to do.

with a slight twist.

Teams of Peter's choosing have their draft picks get a higher value based on Peter's perception of how smart those teams are? Each of New England's 2nd round draft choices are worth 10,000 points on Peter's draft chart.

The draft-day chart makes no allowance for a good or bad draft. Because this year's draft is clearly above average, I'm going to inflate the 2010 second-round pick by 10 percent.

Somehow he managed to make this even dumber than what I jokingly suggested.

So because this NFL draft is "supposed" to be a good draft, we are just going to assume better players will come from this draft and make these players more valuable compared to a normal pick on an average year would be? From the start, Peter has absolutely ruined the ability of this to be a relevant or accurate measure of whether the Eagles got trade value out of McNabb.

My point is we have no idea if this year's draft actually is better than an average draft, so it is a bit unfair to bump up the values based on a perceived value of the players that can't be proven.

And to assign value to the 2011 pick, I'm going to arbitrarily give the value of a sandwich pick between the third and fourth rounds -- the 97th pick overall.

It's fine to arbitrarily give this pick a value, but throwing in the fact Peter is giving the 2nd round pick more points based on a perception of more value and he is just randomly giving this 3rd/4th round pick a value...I can't say his conclusion is going to be terribly accurate.

The total value, then, from the McNabb deal is 695 points. That translates to about the 26th overall pick in the draft. (This year, the Cards pick 26th, with a value of 700 points for the pick, and Dallas picks 27th, with a value of 680 points.)

So basically the Eagles got a 1st round pick for McNabb.

I understand that if I'm inflating this year's pick, it stands to reason that the 26th pick would have an inflated value too.

Right, so the 26th pick would have a value of 770 points, which means a pick of 695 points on Peter's "inflated for the 2010 draft" chart would have a value between the 29th and 30th pick, which have 682 points and 704 points respectively. So the Eagles essentially moved up 7-8 spots from the 37th pick by also getting a 3rd/4th round pick.

But I inflate because I know the Eagles could well use the 37th pick as trade bait, and there's a good chance it will have more value in dealing for a future pick (a first-round pick in next year's draft, for example).

So I don't really know what this means. Trying to predict and inflate the pick based on what Peter "thinks" the Eagles will do seems pretty fallible to me.

Philadelphia has dealt a second-round pick for a one the following year.

They haven't done this yet. They have traded Donovan McNabb for what is a late-1st round pick. That's all they have done at this point. Speculating what they MAY do is what causes this example Peter gives to be inaccurate.

And with such a strong crop atop the draft, it would stand to reason that the 37th pick in 2010 would be worth a first-rounder in 2011 to many teams. So if McNabb ends up being worth picks in the middle of round one and middle of round three, for example, in 2011, then we'd be talking about much greater value than we're talking about now.

Peter is getting a little separated from the real value the Eagles have gotten RIGHT NOW for McNabb. Fuck what Peter believes they will do with the pick, it is important to know what the Eagles got for McNabb right now. He needs to quit with the bullshit hocus-pocus prediction crap and focus on what has actually happened.

If McNabb ends up with that value of a 1st and 3rd round pick, then there is greater value, that's true. The problem is the Eagles don't know the value of the 1st round pick they have acquired until next year's draft, so we won't know the real value of McNabb until that point. If they trade the 2nd round pick for a 1st round pick that ends up being 31st or 32nd they have actually lost value according to Peter's messed up chart. The overall haul of what they got for McNabb was worth the #29 or #30 pick this year, but remember Peter has already inflated the worth of this 2nd round pick because the 2010 draft is filled with so many better players, so I don't know what a 1st round pick for 2011 would be worth in regard to a #37 pick in 2010 without Peter's inflated value.

Last year the Carolina Panthers traded their 2010 pick and for the #43 pick and I they got a 4th round pick back as well. I am not sure the Eagles would be able to trade a 2nd round pick at #37 straight up for a 2011 1st round pick. Obviously it could happen, but this is all speculation. Right now the Eagles traded McNabb essentially for a late-first round pick. Peter can talk his way around it all he wants, but we can't predict what will happen in the future.

He should focus on what the Eagles got in return right now for McNabb...and possibly quit randomly inflating a pick's value by 10% based on a perceived increase in value based on how strong the draft is supposed to be.

If I told you that you could get the 26th pick for a player you felt like you really wanted to trade, wouldn't you think that's a good deal?

Yes, I would. I don't get why Peter isn't inflating the value of the 26th pick in the 2010 draft if he is inflating the value of the 37th pick in the exact same damn draft. If you inflate one pick's value, you have to inflate the other pick's value. So the pick the Eagles received is actually 29th or 30th because he has to inflate the worth of the 26th pick in the 1st round. He can't just assume the Eagles will trade the pick.

I would -- even if the player ends up on a division rival -- if you're confident the player you have is better, and if you're confident the player you're trading has enough inadequacies to his game that you don't think he can hurt you.

Not to mention they just traded McNabb to a team that was not very good last year. Maybe I am underestimating McNabb's value to the Redskins, but I have a feeling this will end up being a great trade for the Eagles.

I appreciate the flood of e-mails and Tweets about my Donte Stallworth story Monday. Some of you thought I was balanced; some thought I was too pro-Stallworth.

Not shockingly, no one thought he was too hard on Stallworth. I think Peter King could have given Pol Pot the benefit of the doubt in an interview and believed what he was saying when he says he didn't mean to kill a ton of people.

Many of you wrote to say you didn't believe that Stallworth could have tested at a blood-alcohol level of .126 by having, as he said, four shots of liquor and no other alcohol, and then being tested after the death of Mario Reyes -- about three hours or so after he consumed the alcohol.

Probably because this is pretty much biologically impossible. Though Stallworth did run a 4.4 40 yard dash for the Ravens, so maybe he is the exception to the rule that goes for nearly every other human of his weight and size.

From Brian Geraghty of Berkeley, Calif.: "Hi Peter, thanks for the great columns each week.

Well we know from the get-go this guy is a delusional idiot based on this statement. Let's proceed with this knowledge.

I don't think I can believe Donte Stallworth is trying to change his image when he's obviously not being truthful about the night he drove drunk and killed another human being. The guy weighs 200 pounds, had four drinks in four hours and took a nap in between and still blew a .126? Ridiculous. I'm a California Highway Patrol Officer and know that you'd have to be a 100 pounds to have that BAC after 4 hours. Let's be honest and say that Mr. Stallworth is trying to rehab his image because he wants to get paid more money.''

Or I could completely change my mind about him and say that Brian from California is absolutely correct. As an adult human being, Peter King should know that Stallworth's story doesn't check out no matter how sincere he seems in telling it.

I wish I had been raised in the Peter King household. There is an untold amount of shit that I would have gotten into and then lied myself out of it. Peter seems to believe whatever athletes tell him, there is no way this doesn't go for his personal life too.

"No dad, I wasn't smoking pot in my car. That's incense. I don't care that you found a bag of something that looks like and smells like pot. What you think is pot is really part of a plant I plan on putting along the side of the highway in honor of those who have tragically died in car accidents. And no, that's not cocaine either. It's really strong sugar I put in my coffee. You know how us Kings like our coffee strong!"

PK: Fair point.

No. This is a factual point that really can't be argued.

I checked out the California Highway Patrol website and used the chart that can estimate blood alcohol content after a certain number of drinks, and the BAC would read about half of .126. I reached out to Stallworth on Monday night, told him of the skepticism, and asked him for a response.

I can see Peter King pacing the living room and sweating for a bit at having to confront Stallworth (via text message by the way) over this inaccurate drink count. I bet Peter downed at least 9 lattes before texting Stallworth.

He said via text message: "Regarding the officer, I think I'll just let my words stand on their own. I'm trying to move past this and I don't want to go back and forth with every person who has an opinion that really doesn't know the facts.''

"I'm not going to change my story at all because then I will look like a liar. I am not going to argue with people who try to point out my story doesn't make any scientific or factual sense. There are circumstances this man can't understand, like I need to make more money by playing football, and would prefer if I can tell my story without someone trying to poke holes in the obvious holes in my story. That's the reason I did the interview with Peter King. He doesn't question anything."

You'll have to judge for yourself whether Stallworth was more than just marginally impaired when his car struck a man and killed him in the pre-dawn hours of March 14, 2009.

Because it is pretty obvious how much Stallworth had to drink and Peter is too chickenshit to publicly acknowledge Stallworth lied to him and he bought it.

Sorry Peter, I believe the highway patrolman. He has probably heard every story under the sun for every possible traffic violation in the book. You can't really bullshit a cop and if this cop calls bullshit, I believe him.

From Andrew Lane of Brandon, Manitoba: "Thanks for the story about Donte Stallworth. Like so many things, this story is not clear-cut; you did a great job of presenting the story without judgment, yet with a deep sense of the emotion that this tragic event generated for all involved. I wish Mr. Stallworth well and I extend my condolences to the family of the man who died in the accident.''

I am with commenter Dylan. Stallworth hit a person and killed a person while driving drunk and that is about all there is to say about the situation. Sure, there are intricacies to the story, but the bottom line is that he drove drunk (and supposedly high) and a person who wasn't being cautious in traffic died.

From Steve of Fairfax, Va.: "I am curious to understand what the Eagles will do with Mike Vick and his $5.6 million contract if he is not the starting quarterback.''

He'll be the NFL's most expensive toy that gets used 3-4 times per game to throw off the Eagles' offensive rhythm and prove that Reid nor the Eagles made a mistake in signing him. Basically, Vick is a luxury on a team that probably doesn't want him being the true backup.

PK: He'll be the backup to Kevin Kolb, and play his 2009 changeup role at least a few times each game -- and more if Kolb is either injured or lousy.

I've made jokes about Vick in the past, but do Eagles fans really feel comfortable with Vick starting for them? Vick is a great change-of-pace, but with those weapons on the Eagles offense does Andy Reid really want Vick getting them the ball? Roddy White blossomed in Atlanta after Vick was no longer the QB, that tells me a little something, and I still don't believe Vick will be a great throwing quarterback at this point in his career either.

From Craig Ikens of Chicago: "As a lifelong Lions fans, I've been very impressed with the work of Martin Mayhew since he took over for 'he-who-shall-not-be-named.' It's already been a very business offseason (Corey Williams, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Nate Burleson, Chris Houston and now Rob Sims). What are the impressions of Mayhew around the league and your impressions of his work to date?''

Apparently overpaying (even though they had to, of course) for free agents is something that impresses the Lions faithful. Mayhew has done a decent job, but Vanden Bosch isn't the player he used to be, Chris Houston has underachieved, and Nate Burleson is really a #3 receiver. Mayhew hasn't done a bad job, but it hasn't been his free agent signings that are the key to the Lions potential turnaround. It's his draft from last year.

PK: Mayhew got high grades among his peers for the compensation he got from Dallas for wideout Roy Williams (first- and third-round picks),

Cowboys fans everywhere are slapping their hands against their head in frustration right now.

and his first draft -- I believe -- will go down as a very good one, with a quarterback, tight end and safety who should all be cornerstone players. Louis Delmas, as you've seen, is a terrific tackler and rangy cover player in the secondary. The reviews so far are very good.

Notice how Peter didn't say anyone had given good reviews for the Lions free-agent signings, but only listed their draft choices for last year. They have so many good options in this year's draft, they can't help but get a good player.

From Rich of Minneapolis: "I don't think enough attention has been made to the Lions possible drafting an OT. You mentioned it in MMQB, but most mock drafts have the Lions penciled in taking Ndamukong Suh or Gerald McCoy, defensive tackles.

Enough attention hasn't been paid to the Lions drafting an OT at #2 because it would be stupid for them to do this. Both McCoy and Suh are bonafide potential Pro Bowl defensive tackles and no-brainer picks for the Lions. Why in the world would the Lions reach at #2 to get an offensive tackle when they still have a need at defensive tackle and the defensive tackles available look like they could be great players?

I don't think it can be underestimated that the NFC North has three very legit pass rushers (Julius Peppers, Jared Allen, Clay Matthews) and the Lions can't afford to have Matt Stafford on his back as much as he was last year. Don't you think it's possible that even if they stay at number two that they take Russell Okung, the tackle from Oklahoma State?''

First, off Clay Matthews is a linebacker in a 3-4 defense, which means he doesn't always rush from the side of the left tackle. Julius Peppers is going to be moved around in the Bears defense so they are going to focus on the matchups they like on the offensive line. Basically, drafting Okung for the specific purpose of blocking these three players may end up being fairly futile, so it is not exactly smart to do this.

All this aside, it still doesn't make for the Lions to ignore drafting the best available player at #2 since they have many needs on that team.

PK: My belief is the two defensive tackles -- a position of great need for the Lions -- are such strong value that Detroit would take their DT of choice at two and then take an offensive tackle with the second-round pick.

For once, Peter is right. McCoy and Suh are such good players, or at least seem like they will be, no team in the Top 10 should really pass over them (outside of a team that has another huge need) for another player.

Maybe this is why the Lions have suffered over the past many years so much. Maybe the GM's think like the fans and want to draft a guy who isn't as good as other guys available because the Lions want to match up with other teams in the division.

-I have to add one more thing I found on ESPN.com and it just made me laugh pretty loudly. Nick Turturro tells Scoop Jackson he can save Major League Baseball.

I know you are thinking, Nick Turturro, who is that? He is an actor of course.

Here are his thoughts...and he is serious.

"They need a guy like me to come in and loosen up the sport," Turturro said while walking to down the streets of Boston. "Humanize it."

Right, because nothing humanizes the sport of baseball like an out-of-work actor coming in and trying to hang out with athletes.

Turturro said today's players act like movie stars.

So they need a television star to show them how not to act like a movie star?

"A-Rod, he's like a robot. They should let me come in and loosen him up, give him a massage or something."

It sounds to me like Nick Turturro just wants to hang out with A-Rod and needs any excuse he can find to do so. Also, offering to give A-Rod a massage is incredibly shady. If someone told me they wanted to do this, I would probably laugh in their face for a minute or so.

"Albert Pujols? He's another one. I'd take him dancing. I'd take him to a Dominican club, make him do the merengue, get back to his roots. See if he still has that DR rhythm," Turturro said.

This is so very stupid. Like taking Albert Pujols to a Dominican club would loosen him up and make baseball better as a whole. Not to mention, why the hell would Albert Pujols want to hang out with Nick Turturro?

"I love Ozzie Guillen. He's what the game needs. But I'd take Ozzie out for some Cuban food. Chill with him in his element and talk baseball with him. See how he really feels."

It sounds to me like Nick Turturro just wants to hang out with baseball players and annoy them with questions. Ozzie Guillen would tell Nick Turturro to go fuck himself if Turturro presented this idea to Ozzie. I wouldn't mind watching Ozzie say what he thinks of this idea to Turturro either.

"I want to bring the players back to earth and the game back to the days where you'd see superstars like Willie Mays in the neighborhood, playing stick ball or wiffle ball, connecting with the people.

Will all the children be riding ponies and will there be cotton candy being handed out by a kindly street vendor?

It's still a kid's game. They just forgot. That's why baseball needs me. To come in and remind the players of this, to bring them back to being human."

By massaging them, taking them dancing and then seeing how they really feel.

Shut up and go back to not acting.

10 comments MMQB Review: Where Is the Love? Edition

There is still time to join the Fantasy Baseball league in Yahoo if anyone wants to. I have set the draft for closer to the beginning of the season. The League ID is "420904" and the password is "eckstein." If anyone who wants to join has recommendations or preferences on how the league is set up, just use the message board for the league to say what you think. Everyone feel free to join. Also, I have started a NCAA Tournament Bracket Pick 'Em in a Yahoo league if anyone is interested in joining. The ID is "8624" and the password is "eckstein." Feel free to join and we can now make our picks since the brackets have been announced. The winner of each league gets a bag of the new Doritos "Late Night Last Call Jalapeno Popper" chips.

We are one week closer to the NFL regular season, which means we are also one week closer to Brett Favre's annual retirement/non-retirement dance and the deluge of articles about how stupid it is to base the MLB All-Star Game result on who wins the World Series. Let's enjoy the quietness and the sound of college basketball being played while we can. Today Peter sees all the teams in the NFL trading for mediocre quarterbacks and wonders why the best mediocre quarterback, Donovan McNabb, isn't drawing interest.

(That was a joke Eagles fans, McNabb isn't mediocre.)

Whoa.

Keanu Reeves will be writing MMQB today in place of Peter King.

Tease alert: Stay tuned, down a bit in the column, for a good nugget about the first thing Rex Ryan said when he woke up from lap-band weight-loss surgery Saturday.

Where the fuck is a cheeseburger?

Did I get it right? Actually, it was probably something about signing Tomlinson. "We have to get Tomlinson...and get me a cheeseburger!"

The weekend news leaves us with one big personnel story (except for the fate of Brandon Marshall) prior to the draft: Why are teams not fighting to get Donovan McNabb or Kevin Kolb from the Eagles?

Oh I don't know. It could be the huge massive price they have required to trade for these players. Reportedly the Eagles want 2 1st round picks for Kolb. I can only imagine what they want for McNabb.

If I'm laying odds, it's 60-40 McNabb is under center for the Eagles on opening day. But that 40 percent (who knows -- maybe it's 30 or 35) means something.

Ok, no Peter, YOU are laying odds. That means YOU get to choose the odds of McNabb being under center on opening day, so if it is 40%, YOU would know if it was 40% or another number. So the very fact you aren't even sure about what the odds are, which you are choosing, that McNabb is under center at the beginning of the season means the 40% absolutely means nothing. A random number drawn out of the air by someone that may or may not be right is the very meaning of a number that should mean nothing.

Case in point. Remember last summer, two weeks before Philly landed Vick, when Reid said signing Vick "is not the direction we're looking"? He never said, "We have no interest in Vick.'' So when he says he's happy with his quarterbacks and feels McNabb is his guy, it's a lot different than saying he wouldn't deal him.

Yeah, we get it. Most of Peter's readers follow the NFL and understand that coaches lie and deceive to ensure they get what they want. I don't know if Peter just thinks we are all stupid or what.

The fact that there's a real chance the Eagles could deal McNabb, and that McNabb is a half-year younger than Peyton Manning and apparently intends to play four or five more seasons,

Simply because Manning is half of a year younger than Peyton Manning doesn't mean he will be as good as Peyton Manning for as long as Manning is good. It doesn't work that way. Plus, McNabb could intend to play for 10 more years, but he's not the one making the decision on this, it's his body that eventually decides. So this sentence is no proof of really anything.

and also apparently has kicked the injury bug, leads me to this question: What in the world are all these quarterback-needy teams doing? Why aren't teams running to deal for McNabb?

He's fully healthy for one season in his near-mid-30's and now he has "kicked the injury bug?" I really start to wonder if these NFL players do pay Peter to do public relations or publicity for them. Look, McNabb is a great quarterback, but the fact he was healthy last year and another quarterback his age has stayed healthy, plus he intends to play 5 more years, doesn't mean he is the pick of the litter or is undervalued in the trade market. It also doesn't mean McNabb is going to play at a high level for the next 5 years for sure.

I asked a coach with a quarterback need about McNabb, and the coach said because McNabb is on the last year of his contract and would probably need to be re-signed, and the fact that Philadelphia would want a high draft choice for him in a very good draft, and the fact that he doesn't have a lot of years left, all combine to make it a tough trade. Understood.

Apparently it's not understood. I wish Bill Belichick (that's my guess) had told Peter this more forcefully to help him understand, because he clearly doesn't.

But McNabb is 33.

Right, which means he doesn't have a lot of years left while playing at a high level.

I have my own problems with McNabb. I don't consider him on the Manning-Brady-Brees plane. I think the Eagles should go with Kolb and make the best deal they can for McNabb this offseason, because, basically, it's Groundhog Day in Philadelphia. Every year's the same, and I don't see McNabb getting Philly over the hump and into another Super Bowl.

So while Peter King sees and acknowledges all of this, he still thinks a team should trade for Donovan McNabb? Does Peter see McNabb getting a less talented team to a Super Bowl? So why is McNabb not good enough for the Eagles right now, but he is perfectly fine for other teams and should be wanted through a trade? This doesn't make sense.

So why would I want to pawn him off on another quarterback-needy team when I don't think he's a top-five quarterback? Simple. Because he's a top-10 or top-12 quarterback, and they're too hard to find to let one pass when he's just sitting there for the taking.

He is 33. How much longer will he be a top-10 or top-12 quarterback? That's the problem. McNabb is going to need a new contract, there may be a lockout next year, and no one knows how effective a 34 year old quarterback who wants a new contract will be.

McNabb would shore up any team's most important position for the next half-decade.

This is idiocy. Absolutely not. McNabb is not going to play at a high level when he is 37-39 years old. There is no way. I will pay someone $100 if McNabb is a top-12 quarterback when he is 38 years old...and that's the entire point of why no one is trading for him. A team that is on the brink of a playoff berth most likely already has a good quarterback and a team that is trying to get better probably needs the draft picks trading for McNabb would require.

Why do the Eagles have a higher trade request for Kolb than McNabb? Because he is younger and McNabb doesn't have 5 seasons left in him. If McNabb was a few years younger and not a free agent soon, then maybe there would be more interest.

Again, I will ask...does Donovan McNabb pay Peter King to trump up a trade market for him? Not that anyone would trust Peter enough to believe him about McNabb, but it's like Peter works for him.

What would you rather have, a four- or five-year shot at a relatively sure thing in McNabb (with a +12 TD/INT ratio in each of his last four seasons), or a guy who makes you go to bed uneasy every night for the next two or three years because you just don't know how he'll pan out?

McNabb has also played in 63 out of the last 80 regular season games and he is 33 years old. I know he has great stats and maybe a team should trade for him, but we can't ignore the price the Eagles want as compared to how many top-flight years McNabb has left. Well, Peter can ignore this, but I can't.

The last time I heard so many raves about a draft beforehand was the 2004 crop, with the three good quarterbacks (Rivers, Manning, Roethlisberger) and rock-solid depth at several other positions.

Well, I looked up that draft Sunday, and here were the fifth through 10th picks in this so-called superior draft:

5. Washington: Sean Taylor, S, Miami (Fla.).
6. Cleveland: Kellen Winslow, TE, Miami (Fla.).
7. Detroit: Roy Williams, WR, Texas.
8. Atlanta: DeAngelo Hall, CB, Virginia Tech.
9. Jacksonville: Reggie Williams, WR, Washington.
10. Houston: Dunta Robinson, CB, South Carolina.

These are only 6 picks from the draft. Sean Taylor died after making a Pro Bowl, Winslow has had injuries but is a good tight end, Roy Williams and Hall have underachieved but aren't terrible players, Reggie Williams was a bust, and Dunta Robinson is a #1 corner. I wouldn't say these players are bad picks or anything and they had a flame-out rate probably a bit better than some other drafts. Peter is cherry picking from this draft to make it look worse and not listing the following players who were taken early in the 2004 draft either (not including the 3 quarterbacks who currently have made it to 3 Super Bowls):

Vince Wilfork
Steven Jackson
Jonathan Vilma
Tommie Harris
Shawn Andrews
Will Smith
Chris Gamble
Lee Evans
Chris Snee
Karlos Dansby

Those were just until pick #34 in that draft. So, really he has no point.

Forgot to mention Robert Gallery, second overall pick. Six years later, six of the top 10 picks in a thought-to-be excellent draft are gone, with just traces of the impact they were supposed to have left on their teams. A seventh, Gallery, was so unimpressive at tackle the Raiders moved him to guard. That is not what you want to have happen with the second pick in a draft.

So because that draft was hyped and didn't live up to the expectations supposedly set, at least in Peter's mind, the 2010 draft won't either? Since we are talking about quarterbacks, the quarterbacks from that draft, Roethlisberger, Rivers, and Manning, seemed to do well. I like how Peter talks about McNabb as being better than a drafted quarterback in this year's draft, and uses the example of the 2004 draft where there were busts, just not that many busts from highly drafted quarterbacks. Yet, this is supposed to prove quarterbacks in the draft are a crapshoot in 2010...but it doesn't.

It's time for one of the QB-needy teams to step up. Seattle's got the sixth and 14th picks, San Francisco the 13th and 17th picks. Re: Seattle, franchise saviors usually don't last forever. Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier can tell you that. If I'm Pete Carroll, and I can have Donovan McNabb as my quarterback for the next four years, I jump at it.

Bot those teams are looking to build with multiple pieces in the draft, why would they trade one or more draft picks for a 33 year old quarterback when they have other needs on the roster as well?

Here ends Peter doing press for Donovan McNabb. I wonder what he charges to pimp out players in his MMQB?

Denver gave Cleveland versatile backup runner Peyton Hillis (who might be the best player in this trade), a sixth-round pick this year and a conditional pick in the 2012 draft that I'm told won't be better than a fourth-round pick. This for the 22nd pick in 2007 who had 12 starts to prove he belonged.

I can't believe that is all the Browns could get for Quinn. I don't love him, but he hasn't even been given a good shot or good coaching in the NFL. I am not saying he will succeed but he at least needs a shot to do so.

Ryan was in on meetings with Tomlinson on Friday in New Jersey to try to persuade him to sign as a free-agent with the Jets. Then the Jets coach, who has always struggled with his weight, went to Manhattan on Saturday to have lap-band surgery on his stomach, and the first thing he did when he woke up from the surgery was ask: "Did we get LT signed yet?''

I didn't even read this before I guessed earlier. I promise. So the Jets got rid of a 31 year old running back who ran for 1,400 yards last year because he was too expensive, so they could sign a 31 year old running back who ran for 730 yards last year? I know the Jets had to pay Jones according to the contract he signed, but he made less money signing with the Chiefs than Tomlinson made with the Jets. How is this an upgrade exactly?

the answer was no, so when Ryan had rested and returned home late in the day Saturday, he called Tomlinson to put on one last sales pitch. And Sunday morning, Tomlinson settled on the Jets.

The Jets also settled on Tomlinson.

The Vikings line showed some big holes at times last year, and is aging. I thought it was the right choice for Tomlinson, and though his career's in free-fall, this is the best situation for him to have a chance for one or two good sunset seasons.

I think the Jets should have either just kept Thomas Jones or found a running back in the draft to backup Shonn Greene. Did anyone on the Jets staff actually watch Tomlinson run last year? I don't even know if there is a hole if he can hit it fast enough for a gain over 4 yards.

"I've got all the love in the world for Darren Sharper. I just don't have all the money in the world for Darren Sharper.''

--New Orleans GM Mickey Loomis, on the Saints' plans for re-signing the 34-year-old free-agent safety who played a major role in the team's Super Bowl

Translation: We want someone else to set the market for us by giving Sharper an offer, or else we'll lowball the tar out of him.

Still feeling the love New Orleans? It is probably a smart move for the Saints to not offer Sharper a huge deal, but it is funny how fast in the NFL it goes from a celebration of love to pure business when it comes to free agent players.

"The New England Patriots' void at tight end is as large as any team in the NFL. They don't have a tight end on the roster who has played in a regular-season NFL game, and they don't officially have a tight ends coach. There are holes, and then there are gaping holes. This is one of the latter. That the Patriots are in this position is a result of their own doing, because they had an abysmal 2009 in evaluating tight ends.''

--ESPNBoston's Mike Reiss on the Patriots, who have no tight end on the roster with an NFL catch after entering training camp last year with Benjamin Watson (now with Cleveland), David Thomas (now with New Orleans), Alex Smith (free agent) and Chris Baker (free agent) and now having none of them.

Thank God Peter just updated us on the Patriots tight end situation. I was starting to get worried about how the position was going to shake out. After last week's brief depth chart discussion we had with Peter on the wide receivers, is he going to talk about the offensive line next week of the Patriots? More importantly, when are we reviewing the linebacker situation for the Patriots in MMQB?

Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week

Not a travel note per se, but an observation about living in Boston that I wouldn't have considered before moving here a year ago. This is the only place I've been where, even with a big golf umbrella, you get wet when you walk for 20 minutes in the kind of Nor'easter we had over the weekend. It rains sideways. So if you position your umbrella to stop the rain from pelting you from the side, some of it's going to hit you from overhead anyway.

Boston weather is so dedicated like it's fans that it doesn't care if you have an umbrella, it will get you wet anyway with the rain. Most other weather in cities just rains normally, but Boston weather is important and special and rains sideways because it is so dedicated to getting you wet. In fact, many Boston fans are so dedicated to the Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics because of the dedication shown by the sideways rain...the next NFL team the area gets (which they deserve at least 2 more) are going to be called the Boston Sideways Rain. You can't find this type dedicated rain anywhere else in the world.

(I would read that again in a Tommy from Quinzee-type voice. It may sound better like that.)

c. No one in the league would have paid Brandon Manumaleuna $3 million to play football in 2010 -- except the Bears, who paid him $6.1 million: $2 million to sign, $3 million in a roster bonus, and $1.055 million in salary.

I think the Bears and Mike Martz have a plan that I am and the rest of the world are not privy to at this point. Martz liked Manumaleuna in St. Louis and obviously wants him as part of his masterplan in Chicago. We have to remember when Peter is talking about money being spent on players, he can't figure out why no team is coughing up a 1st round pick (plus more) for Donovan McNabb and then rewarding him with a new contract.

h. Interesting sign that the Dolphins don't plan on Chad Pennington playing much, if at all: He gets $200,000 in bonus money for every game he plays one or more plays.

It's not really that interesting. If Pennington basically becomes the starter for the team and plays in all the games he gets $3.2 million dollars. If there is an injury to Chad Henne or Pennington is able to beat Henne out, that money should be worth it. I don't know if Pat White is the guy the Dolphins want starting for that team quite yet.

j. Karlos Dansby, $18 million (including $400,000 in workout bonuses) over years one and two in Miami. He'd better be doing his best Ray Lewis impersonation for that kind of money.

Whatever. Ray Lewis at this point in his career needs to be doing a Karlos Dansby impersonation. It's a lot of money, but anyone who has seen Dansby play more than a few times knows he isn't going to slack off and he is a good linebacker.

2. I think I can't wait to hear Mike Holmgren's and Eric Mangini's explanation of paying Jake Delhomme $7 million in 2010. I really can't wait.

Jake Delhomme is a nice guy. You just want to pay him money because he is so nice. I actually don't like this signing because of the money, but otherwise I think Delhomme is a great guy to have on a team right now...as a backup.

4. I think -- finally on Delhomme -- that the Agent of the Month (or Year, or Decade) has to be Jake's man Rick Smith, for getting him $19 million from Carolina last year and $7 million from the Browns (guaranteed, according to ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio) this year. Look at that stat line just above here, and tell me how strong it is to get that man $26 million over two years.

The thing about Delhomme is that his teammates love playing for him. Even when he was terrible they didn't blame him and they loved having him be the quarterback. Jake Delhomme is like a drug, you just want to believe he will be better, because he is so convincing. He even convinced Bill Simmons last year. That being said...there is no Steve Smith at wide receiver to rescue him in Cleveland and he doesn't have two Pro Bowl caliber running backs either...both of which he had in Carolina and still struggled.

7. I think -- and I know this is a basketball opinion -- but the idea of expanding the NCAA Tournament field from 65 teams to 96 is patently absurd. I can just hear it now: All the coaches want it because it will help other coaches keep jobs. Athletic directors want it because it'd bring in more money. Just what we need -- the 11th team in the Big East making the Big Dance because it has a better RPI than the 10th team in the SEC, or however those things are figured. And the 11th team in the Big East (let's put a name to it -- Cincinnati is the 11th-place team in the Big East) becomes the 19th seed in the West Bracket. So at 12:30 in the afternoon on a Thursday, Cincinnati and Cornell or Arkansas-Little Rock or George Mason or whoever will play a game in Corvallis, Ore., in the first round of the West Bracket. Where are the great injustices of teams not making it this year? Seton Hall? A Virginia Tech team that needed overtime to beat Delaware and played a competitive game with Brown?

While I do agree with Peter about this issue, this is really the first year in a long time where there weren't that many quality bubble teams. In the past there have been some really good teams left out of the tournament. In fact, the past two Virginia Tech teams were better than this year's Virginia Tech team and they didn't make the NCAA tournament either. So I agree with him, but this year is a bit misleading because not too many quality teams got left out this year, but that's not the case every year.

And talk about rendering conference tournaments, already a waste of time, totally meaningless.

I don't know if conference tournaments are meaningless. Ask Georgia Tech, ask Washington, and ask Georgetown if they are meaningless.

8. I think the odds of overtime undergoing serious reform at the NFL meetings starting next Sunday at probably 40 or 45 percent, which is discouraging.

Of course it won't pass. The solution was too simple and I actually liked it. I still don't see why they can't flip a coin at the beginning of the game to see who would get the ball first in overtime. Rulebook came up with that idea and I really like it. It adds strategy and teams can play around the coin flip, which makes it less of an issue at the end of the game.

If OT reform fails, a key part will be this: I think the coaches who are strident about keeping the system the way it is -- and I talked to one the other day -- don't want to have another layer of decision-making added to their list.

God forbid they have to make one more big decision. We want head coaches to stay away from having to make too many big decisions in an NFL game I guess.

c. Condolences to Keith Olbermann, my NBC football partner, on the loss of his dad Saturday after a lengthy illness. I could tell by Keith's stirring references to his dad how much he meant to him.

You could also tell how much he meant to him by the fact he was HIS FATHER. That tends to be a dead give-way as to how Keith Olbermann feels about him.

e. Coffeenerdness: Quick review on the new Starbucks dark roast, Yukon Blend: Nice smoky full-flavored coffee, not quite with the bite of Italian Roast but a good midday coffee.

Now that I have this information, my life is now complete.

I have to also say, Peter did not mention Brett Favre in his MMQB this week. I am sure Favre will realize he isn't getting enough publicity and do something over the next week to get Peter to mention him...but kudos to Peter. Maybe he has finally moved on.