LS Paxton, WR Gaffney Sign with Denver
Adam Schefter of NFL.com is reporting that the Denver Broncos have signed WR Jabar Gaffney and long-snapper Lonie Paxton, ending their tenures in New England.
According to the report Gaffney has agreed to a four-year, $10 million deal that includes $3 million guaranteed, and reunites him with former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
As for Paxton, the veteran long snapper signed a five-year, $5.5 deal with the Broncos on Friday that reportedly includes a $1 million signing bonus.
Vrabel Traded to Kansas City
Boston.com is reporting that Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel has been traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.
When reached by e-mail by the newspaper and asked, “Have you been traded to the Kansas City Chiefs?” Vrabel reportedly responded with a one word answer: “Yes.” No details are available just yet, and speculation has begun that this may be the start of a larger deal that could involve quarterback Matt Cassel becoming the Chiefs new signal caller.
The 33-year-old Vrabel was entering the final year of his contract in 2009. According to the Globe he was due to earn $2.2 million in base salary and count $4.3 million against the salary cap. We’ll have more as it becomes available.
Brady Finally Gets Married
Usmagazine.com reported on Friday that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has finally gotten married, as he and Gisele Bundchen reportedly tied the knot in a ceremony that began at dusk on Thursday at the St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California. According to the website the ceremony was “very small and intimate”, with the guests mostly consisting of immediate family.
This comes as good news to those who have had to deal with the ongoing media saga that follows every move the veteran signal caller makes off the field. Speculation of the couples future has swirled around nearly every gossip column online over the past year, and hopefully this wedding will help bring an end to all the useless reports and photos of the two “walking” outside to no longer be treated as “breaking news”.
Gaffney to Visit Denver
Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe reported on Friday that Patriots free agent wide receiver Jabar Gaffney will visit the Denver Broncos today.
As the former Patriots offensive coordinator, newly signed Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels obviously knows Gaffney, and the veteran receiver would likely make an easy transition with an offense that also features receivers Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal.
According to the report, Gaffney is still an option to return to New England, but that will likely depend on how big of an offer that Denver makes to the 7-year veteran.
Gaffney has 256 catches for 3068 yards and 15 touchdowns during his career, and has spent the last three seasons in New England after beginning his career in 2002 with the Houston Texans.
RB Taylor Heading to New England?
The Boston Globe reported on Friday that former Jacksonville Jaguars runningback Fred Taylor is close to a deal with New England, and that his signing is “imminent”.
Adam Schefter of NFL.com is reporting that an agreement has been reached, and that Taylor is headed back to New England after visiting with both the Patriots and the Bills.
The 33 year old Taylor, who reportedly hopes to play another 2-3 years, was released by the Jaguars earlier this month. The nine-year veteran has rushed for 11,271 yards and 62 touchdowns during his career, and would be a similar fit just as Corey Dillon was several seasons ago when he joined the team, and later helped New England win Superbowl XXXIX.
Videos: Classic Patriots Football
While surfing YouTube.com tonight looking for videos, I stumbled accross a couple that I thought were pretty interesting, especially for long-time Patriots fans. The first video is of a game between the Patriots and Bills from 1980. While the outcome wasn’t favorable for the Patriots (a 31-13 loss), the video contains a touchdown pass by New England great Steve Grogan, along with some other notable plays.
The second is from 1989 and features a battle between Doug Flutie and Jim Kelly. While it again, was not a favorable outcome for New England (these were obviously posted by a Bills fan), they still feature some great footage that hopefully you’ll enjoy:
QB Mystery Solved
Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe responded to a question in today’s mailbag that I found to be pretty interesting. A reader asked about the situation involving Chris Simms and Tim Rattay reportedly being flown to Boston for a visit with the team following the first game of the season, which obviously saw quarterback Tom Brady go down for the season with a knee injury. Several media outlets at the time reported it, but there was little mentioned after neither ended up visting with the team. Head coach Bill Belichick wouldn’t confirm any of it and denied that they were looking at anyone else. Reiss gave a good explanation of what happened, and one that clears up a question I had also been wondering about.
“At that time of year, NFL teams usually bring in players at every position so they can keep their emergency lists fresh by updating medical information etc,” writes Reiss. ”I believe the Patriots had the workout with Tim Rattay scheduled well before Tom Brady went down with the injury. Once Brady went down, I think they quickly arranged to add Chris Simms to the list.
“Then, after sleeping on it, I think Bill Belichick decided that it wasn’t worth the distraction to add Rattay or Simms — even if they’d be the No. 3 quarterback — when he knew that Cassel was the best option and gave the team the best chance to win. So he sent both Rattay and Simms home, saying the team’s situation had changed. I bet he also had Cassel’s confidence in mind, and making that decision might have boosted it.”
Makes sense, and obviously it worked out well for the team. Thanks to Mike for clearing that up.
New “Live Topic” Forum Addon
While looking at new additions to the forum last night, I came accross an interesting add on that turns a forum thread into a “Live Topic”. What this does is any post that you see that has this image:
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it signifies a thread that is currently active, and is almost like a “live chat”. Basically the way it works is after a thread is posted, users have so many seconds (I don’t have the exact number) where any replies received appear automatically without refreshing. In other words, if there is a thread where people are replying once or more a minute, all you would have to do is watch the end of the thread and the posts will appear right underneath it, much like a chat program.
Example Image:
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I installed it last night during the Super Bowl since there was a game thread in effect for the game, and it ended up being a great test and something that hopefully everyone finds useful. Watching the responses appear automatically without refreshing was something that was pretty cool to watch. So should you see a thread with that label, make sure that you participate as it’s a great opportunity to have more of a live discussion on that topic. Hopefully this will make your experience in the forum more interactive.
A Forgettable Incident for Cassel
Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel apparently had quite a night last Friday, and one he’ll probably want to forget.
According to an article in today’s NY Daily News, Cassel was in line for the bathroom while attending ESPN’s Tampa Bay Super Bowl bash Friday night when a man who was apparently quite intoxicated tried to cut in front of him. “Matt told him to wait his turn and headed into the urinals,” a source told the newspaper. Moments later the individual reportedly barged in and proceeded to purposefully urinate directly on Cassel’s leg. After security reportedly tossed the drunk, despite his wet pants, Cassel headed back out into the party..
My guess is he was a Raiders fan.
Matt Light’s SoBe Super Bowl Commercial
For anyone who didn’t catch this, this was the Super Bowl commercial which featured Matt Light. If you have 3D Glasses be sure to grab them, because this was created for that:
I’m guessing Matt will get quite a bit of crap for this one. Similar to several years ago when Tom Brady did a photoshoot and was photographed with a baby goat.