NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

The Washington Post officially changed the name of its "Redskins Insider" blog, webcast, and twitter handle to "Football Insider" or simply "The Insider" at the behest of none other than Dan Snyder. Why? Because Snyder and the franchise have become increasingly strict about the use of the Redskins brand name. The Washington Post writer Paul Farhi explained the move best, writing:

"The Redskins, who have been at the forefront in creating their own multimedia operations, have been aggressive in policing the use and misuse of their "brand" by others.

For many years, the "Redskins" name was used freely in the titles of local sports highlight shows on TV and radio. No longer. The team put an end to the practice several years ago, now only permitting "authorized" uses of its name — that is, under contractual agreement. Comcast SportsNet is the "official" TV network of the team, for example, and airs a highlight program called "Redskins Nation" hosted by Larry Michael, a broadcaster who is an employee of the team. At the same time, the Redskins produce a half-dozen interview and promotional TV shows through the team-owned Redskins Broadcast Network. The programs air on local stations during the football season.

The Redskins recently asked The Washington Post to rename the newspaper's video webcast and blog about the team, which was called "Redskins Insider," according to people who have knowledge of the circumstances. The team had used the name "Redskins Insider" first, and The Post agreed to switch to "Football Insider.""

By setting up contractual licensing agreements with companies wanting to use the team name, Dan Snyder achieves two basic goals. First, he makes money. News organizations and other businesses that want to use the team name will have to pay licensing fees to the franchise for the privilege. For some, attracting the interest and attention of the massive Redskins fan base will be worth the cost. For others, such as The Washington Post, abandoning the team name makes more sense.

In this situation, Snyder benefits in a second way. He can exercise a measure of control over the outlets disseminating information about his business, which is particularly useful when said outlets publish unflattering material. Though there are a plethora of smaller Redskins blogs using the team name without the contractual consent of the franchise, those websites have considerably smaller readerships and, presumably, influence than "The Insider." The franchise cannot possibly police or hope to extract payment from every blog using Redskins in its title; in essence, Snyder has bigger fish to fry.

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Only Way NFL's All-Time Leading Touchdown Returner Can Be Contained: NFL Rule Change.

Imagine if the rule did not get passed, Bears replaced Soldier Field natural grass with field turf.  Hester would have a field day each Sunday, he'd be "Lethal Weapon" Danny Glover times 100, or something like that.

On a team based primarily on speed, featured on players who thrive due to their speed and quickness; why wouldn't the organization opt to make the transition over to field turf?  The switch would be a win-win situation.

Kickoffs moving from the 30 to the 35-yard line would not be a good thing for the Chicago Bears and electrifying kickoff return man Devin Hester.  The "Windy City Flyer", the NFL's most decorated return guy of all-time, would not benefit from this potential new rule change and it seems like the Bears will be definitely voting against the proposal.

"I don't want to say anything definitively before we have gotten in the meetings," Bears president Ted Phillips told Dan Pompei. "So I would say that we'll listen to the arguments, but we're a little surprised by the proposal and we'll probably be against it. With our return game being such a big part of our offense, I would tend to think we would vote against it.

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Bengals owner Mike Brown is standing firm on his prior statements when it comes to QB Carson Palmer. From day one, Brown has stated he has no intentions of trading Palmer, and kept that same story when quoted in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

"I want him back," Brown said Monday. "I haven't talked to any other team about him. I have no plans to trade him."

A story has popped up that Miami has interest in Palmer, and it’s been written a number of times that the 49′ers also may want to acquire his services. Brown though does not think that trading Palmer with the Bengals having no real backup plan at the QB spot would do anyone or the team any good at this point.

"As far as getting value, I don't see any opportunity to get what I consider to be value," Brown said. "Having said that it doesn't make sense to look to trade. It only makes sense to wait and hope Carson comes around."

Palmer has thrown out an idle threat to retire if he’s not moved, but there’s no denying that at some point either the Bengals are going to have to buckle and move him, or Palmer is going to have to just accept that he’s going to play another season in the Queen City.

It’s more than likely posturing by Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney, but he has thrown another wrench in the loop as far as possible number one overall picks that the Panthers could take when they pick first in the NFL Draft.

Hurney is heading to the the University of Georgia tomorrow, where he stated that he wants to see Bulldogs receiver A.J. Green at Georgia's Pro Day. Hurney told Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com that Green is one of about five to seven players the Panthers are thinking about when it comes to the first overall pick.

What?

"That's where we're at,'' Hurney said. "We certainly are going to look at the quarterbacks, but we're also in the process of trying to gather as much information as possible on the other players that we think qualify for that area.''

Now again, Hurney isn’t going to play his cards when it comes to stating who the team is going to take, but Green is nowhere near worth the first overall pick. This is a team that needs desperate help on the D-line, as well as they need a game-breaker at the QB spot (Cam Newton anyone?!).

Green has in some mock drafts gone as late as 7-10 overall, and when you talk about first overall names that could go to the Panthers, this is the first his name has come up.

Bottom line – Green is a nice player, but he won’t be a Panther come a month and a week from now.

While it is frustrating that a young team with so much potential like the Bucs might not have a regular offseason to prepare to play, it must be more frustrating for Saints GM Mickey Loomis and all the coaches who are trying to decide who to draft.

Saints free agents, both starters and reserves, include: reigning 2-time Pro Bowl SS Roman Harper coming off a pretty bad game in the playoffs, starting C Johnathan Goodwin, starting LG Carl Nicks, LDT Remi Ayodele, future Hall of Famer FS Darren Sharper, RLB Scott Shanle, run-blocking TE David Thomas, kick-returning WR Courtney Roby and DE Anthony Hargrove.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that NFL Films is also discussing with the Saints, Raiders and four other teams.

I really hope it isn’t the Raiders but I think Raiders fans deserve to see Al Davis behind the scenes as he struggles to justify his actions and hirings.

Every team in the league is going to have a candidate for the cover of the most popular selling sports video game of all-time – John Madden Football.

ESPN’s popular midday show “SportsNation” is going to be the site of announcing who is going to move on in the tourney to be on the cover of the game. Here’s the voting dates according to the “SportsNation” site.

Voting dates:
* Opening Round: March 21-27
* Second Round: March 28-April 3
* Third Round: April 4-10
* Semifinals: April 11-17
* Finals: April 18-26

As far as who is in the running, some obvious favorites have to be Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers of the Packers, Sam Bradford of the Rams, Lions stud DL Ndamukong Suh, Eagles QB Mike Vick, Steelers WR Hines Ward, Vikings RB Adrian Peterson, and Jets QB Mark Sanchez.

The way they are doing it is via seeds – No. 1 through No. 16 in two groups (not by conference), with No. 1 squaring off against No. 16, No. 2 against No. 15, and so on.

Here's one set of seeds:

(1) Aaron Rodgers, Packers; (2) Matt Ryan, Falcons; (3) Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars; (4) Danny Woodhead, Patriots; (5) Hakeem Nicks, Giants; (6) Jamaal Charles, Chiefs; (7) Ray Rice, Ravens; (8) Sam Bradford, Rams; (9) Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals; (10) Peyton Hillis, Browns; (11) Tim Tebow, Broncos; (12) Brian Orakpo, Washington Football Club; (13) Steve Johnson, Bills; (14) Dwight Freeney, Colts; (15) Jordan Gross, Panthers; and (16) Ndamukong Suh, Lions.

Here’s the second set of seeds:

(1) Philip Rivers, Chargers; (2) Hines Ward, Steelers; (3) Mike Vick, Eagles; (4) Drew Brees, Saints; (5) Mark Sanchez, Jets; (6) Andre Johnson, Texans; (7) Patrick Willis, 49ers; (8) Julius Peppers, Bears; (9) Adrian Peterson, Vikings; (10) The 12th Man, Seahawks; (11) Chris Johnson, Titans; (12) Jake Long, Dolphins; (13) Josh Freeman, Buccaneers; (14) DeMarcus Ware, Cowboys; (15) Carlos Dunlap, Bengals; (16) Darren McFadden, Raiders.

So we shall know come late April as to who in fact will be on the cover of the popular video game.

With the lockout, it puts a hold on the signing of big name players around the league, the biggest probably being Colts QB Peyton Manning.

There was chatter that Manning was going to be the highest paid player in the game, and Colts owner Jim Irsay agrees with that, but is on hold getting it done.

"It should have gotten done," Irsay told reporters Monday when asked about Manning's contract extension. As far as to why the deal didn’t get done, he has one simple statement. "Ask Tom Condon," Irsay said. “It takes two to tango. So, you would have to probably ask (agent) Tom Condon and get any feedback from him. It should get done and it will get done.”

Condon is Manning's agent, and must have been under the opinion that he could get a better deal after the work stoppage that he could before it for Manning.

Manning got the franchise tag slapped on him, meaning he’s not going to play anywhere but Indy in 2011, but at what price remains to be seen.

ESPN is reporting that HBO and the Tampa Bay Bucs are discussing doing “Hard Knocks” for the 2011 season.

The Bucs would be the youngest team they’ve featured and have plenty of lively personalities to garner new fans with.

According to Mike Florio of "Pro Football Talk," the NFL has told teams to trade future draft picks "at [their] own risk." What's that mean? Simply put, the anti-trust lawsuit brought on by the NFLPA could threaten the NFL draft. The claim here would be that because rookies can't sign with whomever they want, it is a form of monopoly. I'm here to be reasonable, and let's be honest, the draft will continue to stick around for years to come. If not, I'll do your laundry for a month.

The NFLPA and the NFL have been shooting shots across the divide at each other for some time. It still boggles my mind to think that we saw this lockout coming a year and a half ago, and they still couldn't work out a deal. Frankly, it's quite annoying. As illogical as the two sides seem, there's no way that they risk everything that they've built over the past few decades over the split of some 9 billion dollars. With that much money on the table, I think there's enough to go around.

Also, the UFL may be making a bid to be a legitimate challenger to the NFL. Let's assume there's a doomsday scenario, and the NFL doesn't play football in 2011. Those big networks like Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS, and ESPN no longer have to pay the money for those TV contracts for that year. Why wouldn't they want to add the UFL? The UFL would be cheap, and I'm sure there would be a lot of NFL players that would sign with those teams because many have said that they just want to play football.

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