NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

The Chargers have placed their franchise tag on wide receiver Vincent Jackson, who held out last season to end up playing in just half the season. He was designated a “non-exclusive” franchise player, meaning he can negotiate with other teams once a new collective bargaining agreement is agreed upon between the owners and players.

If he signs elsewhere and the Chargers do not match his offer, they will receive two first-round draft picks from the team that signs him. If he signs his tender instead of negotiating a long-term deal, he will be paid the average of the top five receivers in the league. “Vincent has been a valuable contributor to our team,” general manager A.J. Smith said in a statement announcing the move. “We want him to be a Charger.”

Jackson finally signed his tender on October 29th. He was placed on the roster exempt list in a hardball move by Smith and had to sit out for three weeks after signing. The 28-year-old Jackson finished last season with 14 receptions, 248 yards and three touchdowns in five games.

Jackson’s original five-year contract expired after the 2009 season, but because 2010 was an uncapped year, he needed six seasons to become an unrestricted free agent.

Starpulse.com reports that Eagles QB Mike Vick will be making an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show coming up on February 24th.

The controversial Philadelphia Eagles QB Michael Vick is set make an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show on February 24th. Being the polarizing figure that Vick is, Oprah has been called into question about why she would interview Vick.

As for Vick himself, he is still trying to recuperate his image since his dog-fighting ring incident that landed the Pro Bowl QB in prison. Vick had his best season as a pro throwing for over 3,000 yards and posting career highs in touchdown passes (21) and passer rating (100.2). He garnered the most votes and was named to his fourth Pro Bowl as the starter for the NFC in the NFL Pro Bowl. The show should draw huge ratings because of the disparity that Vick causes along with the insightful questions of his life that only Oprah can ask. I'm sure Oprah knows this is a calculated risk but this is an interview she couldn't pass up. She and Piers Morgan openly placed a bet on who would land the interview first and looks as if Oprah has won.

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It is with amazement that most wonder why do ex-players and coaches keep mum about Al Davis when they leave the Raiders. Stories go all over the place (Al didn't like a coach on billboards, called offensive/defensive plays down to the field, had players go over coaches and deal directly with him, etc.) yet when you question these ex-players and coaches, they typically just laugh, drop a Al is the boss, or just ignore the question.

This years coaching staff tells you why.

Greg Biekert, Chuck Bresnahan, Steve Wisniewski, and Rod Woodson are all back in the Silver and Black as coaches.

Does it matter how effective they may be as coaches versus how good they played as a Raider (minus Chuck)?

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The Titans have filled the role of offensive coordinator, as today new head coach Mike Munchak announced the hiring of Chris Palmer, a former head coach with the Browns who spent last season coaching in the UFL. Munchak will also be introducing a new defensive coordinator – Jerry Gray.

Munchak said in a statement through the team that he talked to a number of candidates and that Palmer fits what he wanted.

“Chris has a wealth of experience as a coordinator and a coach,” Munchak said. “He is a great teacher of the game and has been around a variety of good coaches and winning football programs. He has helped develop many good quarterbacks and understands what that process is like, as he raised their games to a high level over time.”

Palmer spent last season as head coach of the United Football League’s Hartford Colonels. He was head coach of the Browns for two seasons as an expansion franchise in 1999-2000, and he also spent seven seasons in the AFC South as offensive coordinator with Jacksonville and Houston. He helped Mark Brunell post his highest passer rating of his career in 1997 at 91.2, and he was the first coordinator for the Texans as an expansion franchise working with David Carr.

Palmer called Munchak an outstanding player and terrific coach. “I am excited to be joining the staff. Offensively, I am very impressed with the personnel they already have in place, but it doesn’t matter what level you are talking about – high school, college, pro – you are only going to be as good as your quarterback, and that will be something we work on,” Palmer said.

Palmer also was head coach at Boston University and New Haven in the college ranks. He even spent two years as an offensive coach for the USFL’s New Jersey Generals and a year with the Montreal Concordes of the Canadian Football League.

For those that worried that Dick LeBeau was going to leave the Steelers after the loss in Super Bowl XLV, the news today should put those fretting at ease. LeBeau is going to stay with the Steelers, as the Post-Gazette reports that he will ink a one-year deal sometime in the next few days to return in 2011.

“I’m not coaching anywhere but here,” LeBeau said today after returning from four days off. The Steelers have made no bones about it – they want LeBeau back too, and the 72-year-old seems more than energetic to return and try to one more time lead the Steelers to their 7th NFL title.

LeBeau was the mastermind of a defense that ranked No. 2 overall and No. 1 against the run in the National Football League in 2010.

LeBeau has inked one-year deals with the Steelers year since returning for his second stint as defensive coordinator in 2004. That’s not because the Steelers don’t want to give him a longer deal, it’s on LeBeau, who has been thinking about life after football the past few seasons.

This picture says he possesses the intangibles

I wonder if Cam wore glasses on the field his football IQ would go up.

Below are the four draft prospects I believe teams will regret passing up:

1. Cam Newton, QB, Auburn: Just because he is an extraordinary physical specimen, does it mean he doesn’t have the smarts to become an elite QB?  Like LeBron, you have to question something when you are such an athlete with an out-of-this-world skill set.  With LeBron it’s his jump shot, with Cam it’s his intangibles.  Give me Newton’s size, speed, arm strength, and ability to win any day of the week.  He is the black version of Ben Roethlisberger, and if a team like Cincinnati or Arizona pass him up for Blaine Gabbert they will be regret it.  Lack of experience?  I’ve seen enough in one year championship-winning season from Cam at Auburn to convince me he’s going to be a franchise signal caller on Sundays.  He’s going to be a playmaker at the next level for whoever selects him; better yet, a winner, who will improvise and prolong plays, showing you a flair for the dramatic on the biggest stage.  Don’t believe, re-watch his impressive come from behind victory against SEC rival Alabama in Tuscaloosa last November.  Isn’t this what we want from a QB?

2. Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon State: Pass him up because of his lack of size.  Ok, he’s not an every down back.  So what.  Nowadays, you need at least two, if not three backs to have a successful run game in the NFL.  No longer are workhorses the way to go.  So with Rodgers, you have a guy who has a knack for the end zone and is versatile enough to be your third-down back, slot receiver, and return guy.  I liken him unto a less explosive version of Dexter McCluster.  If he can show some durability in his rookie campaign, the sky’s the limit for this Beaver.

3. J.J. Watt, DE, Wisconsin:

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Former Bill RB and USC Heisman Trophy Winner O.J. Simpson was brutally beaten by skinheads in his prison cell according to The National Enquirer. The Enquirer which gained noticeable sports cred when they broke the Tiger Woods scandal, reports that Simpson was “beaten unconscious in a brutal prison yard attack” and is now so messed-up mentally that he can’t leave his cell.

“Unfortunately for O.J., a group of young skinhead punks were within earshot – and they were enraged,” Bruce Fromong, a former business partner of Simpson’s told the Enquirer. The Enquirer’s report indicates that Simpson decided to “brag about his sexual conquests of beautiful white women” and that didn’t sit to well with a group of “white supremacists.”

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Chargers wide receiver Legedu Naanee was arrested in Indianapolis early Saturday and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

According to police, Naanee came across an active crime scene at about 3:20 a.m. and was told he would have to turn around or go in another direction. Naanee, who according to police had a "strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on or about his breath or person," asked the officer why he was being "such an (expletive)."

The police officer said after several attempts to get Naanee to leave the scene failed, he told Naanee he was under arrest. Naanee "actively began to pull away" and the officer used pepper spray but Naanee continued to resist.

Eventually he was handcuffed and as he was being walked to the police car, Naanee said, according to police, "Do you know who I am? I am an NFL player and I'm going to sue your ass."

The Jets have placed the franchise tag on linebacker David Harris, the team confirmed Tuesday. The tag doesn’t preclude the Jets from signing Harris, their leading tackler, to a new deal before the season.

Because of the labor uncertainty, general manager Mike Tannenbaum said recently that he doesn’t expect to negotiate any long-term contracts before March 3rd, when the current CBA expires.

If Harris doesn’t get signed by the start of the season, he will make the franchise tender — the average salary of the five highest-paid linebackers in the league. In 2010, that figure was $9.6 million — more than twice what Harris has made in four seasons.

Harris didn’t complain last season when D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Darrelle Revis and Nick Mangold signed new deals totaling more than $160 million.

At the time, both sides acknowledged that the rules of the uncapped 2010 year made it difficult to re-sign veterans, especially those who weren’t drafted in the first round, and they agreed to revisit the matter after the season. Harris was a second-round pick out of Michigan in 2007.

In many cases, the franchise tag creates ill will between the player and team — but not in this case.

“This is a procedural move by the Jets,” Harris’ agent, Brian Mackler, said in a phone interview. “Based on what Mike and coach [Rex] Ryan have said, David is very important to the team. In no way, shape or form will this prevent us from our ultimate goal, which is to get David signed to a long-term deal. My expectation is that will get done once the CBA is done.”

It appears more than ever that if the 2011 NFL season takes place, Michael Vick will be the starting QB for the Eagles. Today the club placed the franchise tag on Vick, giving them the ability to retain the Pro Bowl quarterback for at least another year.

The team also placed the transition tag on Pro Bowl kicker David Akers, which would allow the Eagles to match any offers he receives if and when free agency begins.

“Michael Vick and David Akers were two of our most valuable players last year,” Andy Reid said in a news release. “They were well deserving of their Pro Bowl berths and we’re happy to take this step to ensure that they’ll be back in Philadelphia next season.”

The franchise tag would pay Vick around $16 million, though the exact number is not yet clear. He made $3.75 million base salary last season and, according to the NFL Network, received a $1.9 million playing time bonus. The Eagles placed the “exclusive” franchise tag on Vick, meaning he can’t talk to other teams at all, though it may entitle him to a larger contract.

Akers would make roughly $3 million under the transition tag, up from a $1.65 million base salary last season. The 30-year-old threw for 3,018 yards with 21 touchdowns and six interceptions last season to win the Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year Award after serving a federal prison sentence on a dog-fighting conviction.