Feb. 11: Teams can franchise or transition players
Feb. 24: Combine begins at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis
Feb. 25: Franchise/transition deadline
March 2: Combine ends
March 4: Contracts through 2009 season expire
March 5: Free agency begins
March 5: Deadline to prevent uncapped season
March 15: First possible day for offseason workouts
March 21-24: NFL Annual Meeting
April 22: NFL Draft round 1 in New York (starts on a Thursday at 7:30 p.m.)
April 23: NFL Draft rounds 2-3
April 24: NFL Draft rounds 4-7
End of April/start of May: Patriots rookie camp
May 24-26: NFL Spring Meeting
30 minutes ago
MaPatsFan
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New England Patriots Links 2/09/09 - Brady Due $3 Million Bonus In March
by Marima on Feb 9, 2010 10:22 AM EST
in News
1 comment
Mike Reiss notes Tom Brady is due $3 million bonus in March.
Brady is due the roster bonus on March 5, which is the first official day of the 2010 league year.
Sometimes those roster bonuses can create an added incentive for a team to strike a deal with a player. Instead of paying the roster bonus and then later striking a lucrative extension, there is sometimes a benefit for the team to get it all done at once from an overall cash standpoint.
Brady's new deal could be anywhere from $15 million-$18 million per season, and possibly higher, so it's difficult to gauge how much a $3 million roster bonus could factor into the pace of negotiations. But it is one factor to keep in mind when considering Brady's contract situation.
Boomer Esiason thinks Peyton Manning's interception will translate into $$$ for Brady.
If you put this in the perspective of a New England Patriot fan or a New England Patriot owner like Bob Kraft, and Peyton Manning is going to get ready to sign a new contract really soon. And that interception cost Peyton Manning, in my eyes. Well actually, cha-ching for Tom Brady because Tom Brady does have three Super Bowl Championships and his contract is up as well. So the guy who is actually the biggest winner, I think in all of this, is Tom Brady. Because Peyton Manning is still not able to eclipse the three Super Bowl championships that Tom Brady under his belt.
Dan Shaughnessy shares some feedback he received from emailers, correcting his misguided and premature crowning of Manning over Brady (on the eve of the Super Bowl? tsk tsk). Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Whoops.
OK, maybe I jumped the gun a little. I got caught up in the moment. On the eve of the Super Bowl, I wrote that Peyton Manning was better than Tom Brady. I was positively Peytonized. And as Rick Pitino once said, “that’s how I felt at the time.’’
Fortunately, this is sports and opinions change every day. Now that Manning lost the Super Bowl with his Favre-like pick six, he’s a mere .500 quarterback (9-9) in postseason play. He’s still two rings shy of Brady, who is 14-4 in NFL tournament play.
Nothing beats being wrong on the sports pages of The Boston Globe. And that is because of you, gentle readers.
1 comment | 1 recs |
Easy to be happy about the Saints' win
by MaPatsFan on Feb 8, 2010 6:22 PM EST
in Opinion
29 comments
Against all odds, against popular opinion, the team representing the battered-but-still-standing New Orleans pulled off the seemingly impossible: they beat the juggernaut of 2009, the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV. The NFL could not have scripted this any better: both teams, almost going undefeated in their respective conferences, finally meet in the biggest American sporting event of the year and the underdog triumphs. The city of New Orleans, still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, got its much needed moral victory.
It's easy to be happy for the Saints and the city they represent. It's also easy to indulge in a little schadenfreude at the expense of the Colts and their fanbase. I do not relish beating up on the fans of a losing team, but it's hard to forget the beating we took from rival fanbases, particularly the Colts faithful, after our loss to the New York Giants. The absolute invective aimed our way was unseemly. It is refreshing to see that we, as Patriots fans, have not engaged in the same. Well, at least not on THIS blog. Ok, maybe a little.
29 comments | 1 recs |
New England Patriots Links 2/08/10 - Saints' Super Bowl Win Proves 18-1 > 16-3
by Marima on Feb 8, 2010 12:51 PM EST
in News
108 comments
Mike Reiss offers this Super Bowl thought: Peyton is no Brady.
Peyton Manning is a great quarterback, but what we learned tonight in Super Bowl XLIV is this: He’s no Tom Brady in the pressure moment on the game’s biggest stage.
Looking to lead the Colts back from a 24-17 fourth-quarter deficit against the Saints, Manning threw an interception that cornerback Tracy Porter returned 74 yards for a touchdown, a key play in New Orleans' 31-17 upset victory.
It was a costly mistake, the kind of miscue that Brady, in his four Super Bowl appearances, never made in the critical fourth-quarter situation.
Even in the Patriots’ Super Bowl loss to the Giants, Brady had led a fourth-quarter drive for a touchdown before the defense couldn’t hold.
For all the stories that were written over the last week about which quarterback was the best of the decade – Brady or Manning – one aspect was overlooked: How Manning would lead the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.
If you measure a quarterback by how he responds in the pressure moments on the game’s biggest stage, the debate ended with authority tonight.
Dan Shaughnessy jumps back on the Brady bandwagon. Don't hurt yourself Dan.
This game was supposed to be the coronation of Peyton Manning (hard to believe some nitwits were actually saying he’s better than Tom Brady) and the justification for Bill Polian’s decision to tank the final two games of the Colts’ regular season. We were going to tell you that the Colts won every game they tried to win and could have surpassed the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
108 comments | 2 recs |
Joe Lombardi is the Saints quarterbacks coach – his grandfather is Vince, the coach for whom the trophy is named. Around midnight last night, Payton noticed Lombardi posing with his father, Vince Jr. and his two brothers. "I just thought to myself, ‘You got to be kidding me,’ " Payton said.
1 day ago
MaPatsFan
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10 Super Bowl Observations
by Brady's Revenge on Feb 8, 2010 5:55 AM EST
26 comments
- 1. All Heart. Garret Hartley should have been Co-MVP with Drew Bress. 3 40+ plus field goals on the biggest stage of the year to keep his team within reach was big.
- 2. Robert Who? Great job by Jon Stinchcomb in shutting down Robert Mathis. I don't believe I heard Mathis's name called once all night.
- 3. Who has got the biggest balls of them all? Sean Payton's on-side kick to start the second half was the biggest play of the game. This set the tone for the second half and showed that Sean Payton was going to roll the dice no matter what the price was.
- 4. Question. If Sean Payton was not successful with his on-side kick, would he have been as criticized as Bill Belichick and his fourth and two decision?
- 5. Pierre Garcon was a beast. Garcon looked more like the #1 receiver than Reggie Wayne did. Coverage may have dictated Wayne being obsolete, but Garcon could not be covered last night.
- 6. Hey Greg, this Buds for you. Gregg Williams shut the Colts down in the second half with an array of defensive looks and timely blitzes. Tracy Porter timed perfectly where Manning was going to throw on that third down conversion that was intercepted.
- 7. Reggie Bush finally looks like the number two pick in the 2006 draft that the Saints drafted and expected.
- 8. Has anyone seen a more in tune combo than Dallas Clark and Peyton Manning? Some of the throws that Manning threw on the run to Clark were amazing.
- 9. Karma has won at last. Losing the Super Bowl could not happen to a better guy. Sleep tight Polian.
- 10. Sorry Peyton. When it comes to stats you are the best, hands down. When it comes to Super Bowl rings, Brady beats you out. Winning number two and three are harder than you thought.
26 comments | 1 recs |
SB Nation Super Bowl XLIV Open Thread
This year, we're doing something a little different. Instead of having each blog do their own open thread, we're setting up a central thread at sbnation.com. Head on over and chat it up with fans from other teams. See ya there!!
2 days ago
MaPatsFan
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Super Bowl Coverage
by MaPatsFan on Feb 7, 2010 1:46 PM EST
in News
15 comments
The big day is here, gang. Yeah, I know it's not what we as Patriots fans would've wanted, but you have to admit it's a good chance to pull people together, cook up some food, and have a good time. That's what I plan to do. Who do I want to win? Well, it's incredibly hard for me to cheer against the Saints. HC Sean Payton has spoken gushingly of our New England organization and Bill Belichick, so how can you not like the guy even if his team absolutely destroyed our Patriots?
I'm having a very hard time coming up with a prediction on this one. The Saints, with Drew Brees, are a high powered offense capable of tossing the ball to any number of "receivers"; Brees is extremely good at spreading the ball around the field. However, as good as their offense is, their defense has been cracking heads all year. They're known for beating up receivers within that 5 yard zone and knocking them off of their routes.
The problem? Peyton Manning is having one of the best years of his life. As much as us Patriots fans hate to admit it, he really is one of the most dangerous QB's on the field today. The only chance for the Saints to win is to take away his receivers. Sure, pressuring a quarterback is the easy answer and everyone uses that as the magic bullet, but Manning has one of the fastest releases in Football and will burn you on a blitz. I believe the Saints best chance is to beat up Indy's receivers when they start their routes. They used that tactic with our Patriots and it worked.
SB Nation has tons of coverage for today's big event. Check it out after the jump.
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