Five on Friday has arrived once again! Here are a few notes from this week’s NFL news:
1. David Garrard is the latest QB to leave the Jets roster. The move was a little different than most because it was of Garrard’s own volition; he hasn’t been able to recover from the knee injury that has kept him sidelined for the past few seasons and is ready to call it a career. He’s a good guy, and I’m glad he’ll be retiring as a Jaguar.
2. Even when things seem to be looking up for Sanchez – no Tebow, no Garrard – he still can’t seem to catch a break. Panthers WR Steve Smith reportedly “dissed” Sanchez by saying he wouldn’t want to be thrown “a paper bag sandwich” by the Jets QB. I’m not entirely sure what that means. Sanchez, who has never lacked for class, responded by wishing, “him and his team a healthy, successful season.” But one can only hope that internally he made a few quality retorts about non-sandwich items to throw at Smith, if only for the sub-par insult.
3. The veterans mentioned in last week’s post – Urlacher, Woodson, and Freeney – are started to garner more interest. Freeney might land with the Chargers now that they’ve lost defensive starter Melvin Ingram for the season with an ACL tear. Woodson is being considered by both the Broncos and the Giants (the Panthers and Raiders have reportedly had interest as well). There are Urlacher-to-Vikings rumors milling around, but that’s probably only because Minnesota is where all NFC North players go to retire.
4. The Raiders added two notable names to their roster this week: wide receiver Josh Cribbs (Cleveland) and punter Chris Kluwe (Minnesota). Also on the Raiders radar: longtime Raiders executive Amy Trask resigned after 25 years with the team.
5. The NFL Network is airing their yearly countdown of the Top 100 Players in the league. The first 30 have been revealed so far (in true NFL fashion, they are released 10 at a time each week with an hour-long discussion panel following the announcement), and it’s always fun to see where your favorite players land.
And really, we’re back to a fairly barren time in the offseason, so it’s a well-timed hype fest. I’m all for it.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
