Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Looks like Ray Edwards is going to have to put his boxing career on hold for, say, the next five years. That’s because the defensive end, formerly of the Vikings, has agreed to a five-year deal with the Falcons, Foxsports.com’s Jay Glazer is reporting.

This news comes on the heels of Atlanta cutting loose former No. 1 draft picks, DL Jamaal Anderson and WR Michael Jenkins, which saved the Falcons nearly $8 million against the salary cap.

Edwards definitely should help Atlanta’s defensive line. He’s accumulated 16.5 sacks in the past two seasons, and he’ll team up with John Abraham and Kroy Biermann to form what should be a pretty solid pass rush for the Falcons.

But if you just want to see what Edwards can do in a boxing ring and what he (and you!) will be missing while he plays football, click the video below.







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Posted by Will Brinson



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• The Jaguars official website is already writing about training camp battles and that's good news I guess. Not as good news is the fact that the site also believes Rashad Jennings could "see more carries in an effort to ease the burden on starter Maurice Jones-Drew." That's bad news because it's kind of starting to sound like MJD isn't in the healthiest of conditions these days.

• Tony Gonzalez of the Falcons told Pro Football Weekly that he's "taking it one year at a time" when it comes to retirement. Read: If Atlanta wins a Super Bowl, he's out.

• Gene Chizik, head coach at Auburn, has some really nice words for new Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. As he should, since Cam put Chizik on his shoulders en route to a BCS Championship.

• Santana Moss is really interested in signing "quickly" with the Redskins once free agency starts. Clearly no one told him about the quarterback situation.

• Albert Breer of the NFL Network is sitting on the side of the street in New York (like, literally) waiting on lockout-related news. Here's his latest update.

• SB Nation Atlanta reports that Sean Weatherspoon is going above and beyond what he needs to do during the lockout, getting together with Missouri teammates to workout. I have an unholy amount of love for 'Spoon and I'm hoping it doesn't manifest itself in an ill-advised DPOY pick this preseason.

• Tim Lynch of Mile High Report takes a look back at the "seas of change" that have come over the Denver Broncos organization in the last five years.

• Holy Moses -- Josh Kirkendall of Cincy Jungle did some statistical snooping with the help of Cold Hard Football Facts and found out that Carson Palmer's interceptions thrown accounted for a whopping 16.7 percent of all the points the Bengals allowed last year.

• Is Mike Vrabel on the outside looking in when it comes to the KC football culture?

• The Bucs promoted college scouting director Dennis Hickey to director of player personnel.

Posted by Will Brinson

There's little question that, whenever the lockout finally ends, Nnamdi Asomugha will be the most sought-after player on the NFL's free-agent market.

And as more teams jump into the fray for help at the cornerback position, his price will only get higher. There'll likely be many teams chasing his services, but it appears that the Cowboys will not be one of them.

That's according to Matt Mosely of Fox Sports Southwest, who writes that he can "tell you with absolute certainty that Dallas sees Asomugha as a long shot."

Mosely says he's been told "only in our dreams" by folks in the Cowboys organization that such a signing and falls below signing Doug B. Free. (Not to mention it would require that Dallas release Terence Newman.)

Free's going to be pretty pricey, even though the 'Boys will end up moving him to right tackle once Tyron Smith's ready to take over on the left side. And while Dallas could definitely use Asomugha's talent to shut down some of the dangerous NFC East wideouts they face several times a year, they've got plenty of other issues to address.

A team that will have no choice but to chase Asomugha? That would be the Texans, whose pass defense flirted with being historically bad in 2010.

Jason LaCanfora of the NFL Network reported Tuesday that Houston is "indeed prepared to be aggressive in free agency … and will be among the teams pursuing" Asomugha.

The bad news for the Texans is that they'll now be chasing a player who will demand more than Dunta Robinson did when he left Houston for the Falcons in free agency a year ago.

The good news is that the new CBA, provided it plays out as everyone believes, should end up pushing several talented cornerbacks (namely Jonathan Joseph) into the free-agent market.

That won't make Asomugha too much cheaper, but it will give teams that don't have the bankroll to say in the hunt with the Dan Snyders of the world a shot at picking u pa viable option anyway.

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Posted by Will Brinson



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• Buffalo Wild Wings is offering up what I like to call "lockout wings." Or, what you might call "free wings if the lockout ends before July 20." (Which, coincidentally, is what BW3's is calling them.) To be eligible for six free wings in the event of the lockout ending, cruise on over to their Facebook page and like their petition to end the lockout. If the lockout ends before July 20, everyone who does so will get some free grub. The fascinating thing here, for me, isn't that I might get six wings. It's how much freaking money places like BW3 stand to lose come September if there's no football on for fans to come in and watch. So, yeah, it's probably worth whatever they have to give up in Jamaican Jerk.

• Jason LaCanfora of NFL.com takes a look at which quarterbacks will be traded once the lockout ends. And which ones won't.

• Roddy White, via Larry Brown Sports, thinks that the Falcons will be the new version of the "Greatest Show on Turf" because of their increased explosiveness. Hmmm. Sounds like he's been reading at least one of our handsome Eye on Football blogger's works.

• We mentioned that Donovan McNabb thinks he's going to start somewhere, so we should also mention that he's working out with his former Philadelphia teammates. The drama!

• Adrian Peterson might have some explaining to do, re: his youth football camp.

• Dear Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens don't NEED YOU to motivate them. But don't stop anyway.

• Joe Haden took a bunch of Browns fans out last night and bought them sushi. Tonight, apparently, he's buying drinks. So Cleveland's got that, I guess.

• Some of the Cowboys are getting a look at Rob Ryan's defensive system and, apparently, it's "crazy."

• Matt Conner at SB Nation Kansas City would like the rest of the media to stop screaming about Ricky Stanzi becoming the future of the Chiefs and remember to appreciate Matt Cassel who, by the way, just went to the Pro Bowl.

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Accused of trashing the apartment of his child’s mother, Falcons CB Chris Owens denies doing it and says his ex-girlfriend is only out for revenge and to ruin his name.

“He’s been a good dad,” Randall M. Kessler, Owens’ attorney, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “He plans to keep being a good dad. He denies all of the claims.”

As the AJC points out, Owens – who has a 9-month-old child with his ex, Latia Terry – was named the Atlanta Falcons man of the year for his community work, and the scene described in the police report (holes in the drywall, a destroyed flat-screen TV, bleach poured on her clothes and shoes) seems out of character for Owens.

Owens also says that, after Terry took out a restraining order against him, she berated him on the phone, harassed his friends and slandered him on the Internet.

A family violence session is scheduled for Wednesday in Gwinnett County.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Falcons CB Chris Owens is the target of an investigation by Gwinnett County (Ga.) police for allegedly trashing the apartment of his son’s mother, TMZ is reporting.

Owens’ ex-girlfriend and the mother of his 9-month-old son, LaTia Terry, said Owens entered her apartment when she wasn’t there Sunday night and destroyed many of her possessions and poured bleach on her clothes and shoes.

According to the police report, holes had been punched in the walls of the living room, a flat-screen TV had been destroyed, and the baby’s crib had been torn apart.

Terry told police that many of her shoes were worth $1,200 a piece, and she estimated the clothes that were destroyed by bleach to be worth $15,000.

According to the website, Terry has taken out a restraining order on Owens – who was drafted by the Falcons in the third round of the 2009 draft and has combined for three interceptions in his career.

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

Running backs are fungible. We've been beating that drum for years now, and basically the theory goes something like this: Don't draft a running back with a top 15 pick unless you're certain he's the next Barry Sanders or Jim Brown.

There are exceptions, but the thinking is that teams can find productive backs in later rounds (and often among the undrafted), which frees them up to use early picks on positions that are tougher to fill -- like left tackle and cornerback. This applies to free agency, too. An example that immediately comes to mind: the Seahawks re-signing Shaun Alexander to an eight-year, $62 million deal in 2006, six years into his career. At the time, it was the largest contract ever signed by a running back.

Alexander, who had 370 carries for 1,880 yards (27 TDs) in '05, managed just 896 yards on 252 carries (7 TDs) in '06. He gained 716 yards a year later, and by 2008 he was out of the league.

Meanwhile, success stories on the cheap are everywhere. Willie Parker and Arian Foster were undrafted free agents. So were Chris Ivory and Pierre Thomas. And if they should get hurt or become ineffective, there are other low-priced alternatives.

We bring this up because Michael Turner was originally just that: a low-priced alternative -- the former Chargers fifth-round pick who spent most of his career in San Diego behind LaDanian Tomlinson. Having seen glimpses of his potential, teams around the league were intrigued by Turner once he hit free agency. In 2008, the Falcons signed him to a six-year, $34.5 million contract with $15 million guaranteed.

Early on it looked like a good investment. Atlanta had then-rookie quarterback Matt Ryan, and the offense relied heavily on the running game to make his job easier. Turner finished 2008 with 376 carries for 1,699 yards (17 TDs). And according to Football Outsiders, Turner ranked third in total RB value behind Thomas Jones and DeAngelo Williams.

But the productivity was short-lived. In '09, Turner played in just 11 games and had 871 yards on 178 carries (10 TDs). His Football Outsiders total value ranking fell to 16th, sandwiched between the likes of Ronnie Brown and Willis McGahee. Turner appeared to rebound last season (334 carries, 1,371 yards, 12 TDs), but his total value was still 16th.

Which brings us to Scout Inc.'s Matt Williamson, who writes on ESPN.com that Turner's "best days might already be behind him and (he is) someone who will never be an asset in the passing game."

Williamson thinks that Gartrell Johnson, a former fourth-rounder (coincidentally drafted by the Chargers), could step in for Turner if given the opportunity. "Johnson very well could end up not making this roster, but if he were to stick and be thrust into a prominent role, this hard-nosed power back might surprise."

The bottom line: the Falcons invested a lot of money in Turner, money that could have been better allocated. There's no denying that Turner was great during the '08 season, but he's been something less than that in the two years since. The NFL is full of running backs who are, on average, as productive as Turner but at a fraction of the cost.

Look no further than the guy on the cover of Madden 12 for proof.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Technological advances have made for some interesting changes in the NFL -- the game's clearly different now than it was 10, 20 and certainly 30 years ago.

But Dan Pompei, writing in his "Sunday Blitz" for the National Football Post, has an interesting take on how two teams -- the Ravens and the Falcons -- are utilizing iPads in order to make certain team procedures more streamlined. "The NFL is finding more and more uses for Ipads," Pompei writes. "The Ravens are giving players their playbooks on Ipads this year. No more paper."

There are some pretty obvious benefits to doing this, once you think about it. For starters, teams who use iPads in place of the typical ream(s) of paper are helping the environment.

Then there's the fact, as Pompei notes, that it's quite simple to remotely erase all the data from an iPad if a playbook is lost, stolen or if a player's cut and the team doesn't feel like tracking down 50 pounds of printed trees.

Another interesting take on this that Pompei doesn't note: iPads -- and other technological devices, of course -- can be geographically tracked. That's not to say that the Ravens are monitoring where their players are during the offseason by virtue of their virtual playbooks, but it's entirely possible.

Also possible? Updating the playbook or communicating certain messages without actually meeting with a player. That's not to say the Ravens are doing so, but having a team-issued iPad means there is a communication line open between the team and player that might not otherwise be there.

The Ravens aren't the only ones finding uses for Apple's newest product in innovative ways, either. Pompei notes that the Falcons have been using iPads to scout players and create reports about guys they have interest in.

"The Falcons used Ipads during pre-draft interviews," Pompei writes. "In fact, head coach Mike Smith was carrying one around. The team has a program that has a checklist of questions for each player. After all the questions are answered, the program compiles everything in a profile in paragraph form."

That's pretty darn snazzy, if you ask me.

And it's something you'll probably see more and more NFL teams start using -- in fact, it won't be surprising if teams who are ahead of the curve on utilizing iPads and other technological advantages like this end up with a reasonable competitive advantage in preparation.

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