NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

The Falcons were able to work out a deal with Cleveland to land WR Julio Jones, but there’s a report out that the team actually wanted to move up even higher than six to land the guy who many had #1 at WR on the draft board – A.J. Green.

Pro Football Talk stated the following Monday about the team wanting to move up even further for a chance to grab Green.

While Dimitroff denied reports that he made a concrete offer to the Bengals at No.4, Dimitroff told Florio he did speak with Denver about their No. 2 overall pick.

The offer would have been adjusted for the higher pick, so the Broncos could have brought in a bigger haul than the Browns received.

We presume that the Falcons would have taken A.J. Green and not Julio Jones with the second overall pick, but Dimitroff said the team wasn't settled on that aspect of the decision yet.

Knowing that the Falcons gave up for Jones to the Browns, one could only imagine what the team would have had to give up to move up the #2 spot that Denver owned for the chance to take Green.

Jonathan Kraft, son of Patriots owner Robert Kraft joined WEEI in Boston via Sportsradiointerviews to discuss the NFL lockout. Kraft was blunt in assigning blame to the players for decertifying and filing an antitrust lawsuit.

Kraft said, “I think here's the bottom line: regardless of what any court decides or doesn't decide, the only way we are going back to what we know is the true operations of the National Football League are for both sides to sit across the table from each other and negotiate a new agreement. We were negotiating in the first part of March under the guidance of the federal mediator and from the NFL's perspective we thought we had put fair things on the table and we're having rational dialogue. The players, I know there is a lot of rhetoric that flies around about this, the players were the one's who got up from that table, walked out of the room, decertified, and filed an anti-trust lawsuit. That's the timeline and those are the facts.”

“We were sitting there negotiating with them when they got up, if they were still negotiating why would we have locked them out. We had extended it [the deadline for the lockout] already, all you have to do if you're having good dialogue you extend the deadline, but we were at a table and instead of negotiating they chose to get up and out of the room, decertify as a union, and file an anti-trust lawsuit.

“That's when we executed on the lockout, but the Commissioner [Goodell] has been very clear and I think the league has said all along 'Lets sit down and let's negotiate.' Because at the end of the deal it's not going to get worked out through litigation and through a court system. It's going to get worked out when two business parties sit across the table from each other. We didn't start the legal proceedings. The players did and hopefully we can convince them that litigation isn't the right path and that negotiation is. Unfortunately so far we haven't been able to do that."

Now that the 2011 NFL Draft has concluded, everybody is providing their post draft grades, as ridiculous as that is. After reading over all the draft grades I've found on various websites (it's the only football related stuff to read other than lockout talk) I felt the need to address a common vibe in all the draft grades. The Lions didn't do enough to address their needs on defense.

Despite all the complexities and variables that the NFL Draft and player evaluations offer, the answer is quite simple. There wasn't any value at the positions people wanted the Lions to fill.

Here's an analogy for you. You're looking at buying a house, a big decision with financial ramifications and long term impact. Do you spend $250,000 on a house that's listed at $200,000 just because it has a few of the qualities you're looking for? No, you spend what the house is worth and you only buy it if it's a perfect fit for you. Would you buy a house that doesn't have enough bedrooms for your kids but it has that pool you've always wanted? No, just because the house has a quality you like you don't ignore all the other deficiencies.

Click HERE to read the rest

Another interesting situation has been reported that involves the Ravens and the Arizona Cardinals in regards to backup Quarterback Marc Bulger.

According to the Sports Xchange there may have been an "understanding" between Arizona and Bulger that the unrestricted free agent would be signed to lead their team once the league resumes normal operations.

The Ravens have stated that they won't pursue any action because they feel it might be hard to prove. However, there seems to be some evidence that might support this claim. The Cardinals did not use any of their eight draft picks on a Quarterback, which was considered an area of need. When Cardinals Head coach Ken Whisenhunt, who lobbied for Bulger last season, was asked if he knew anything about a deal he denied it but reportedly grinned while responding.

The NFL warns team's against this type of practice and rules as they see fit in cases where it has been proven.

It should be noted that Baltimore selected Virginia Tech Quarterback Tyrod Taylor with the 180th pick in the draft to prepare for Bulger's expected departure.

In the weeks leading up to the draft, there were concerns from some NFL sources that DE Da’Quan Bowers, who is recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus, also needed microfracture surgery on his knee.

Fears about his long-term prospects played a role as he fell from being a top-five pick to the middle of the second round of the draft, where the Buccaneers took him 51st overall. Bucs GM Mark Dominik told PFW he has a plan for Bowers, and it doesn’t include surgery in the short term.

“For us, there is no imminent surgery that would need to be required or need to be performed right now,” he said. ” … You’re going to have to limit him sometimes. You’re going to have to limit his practice during the week at times. Until he gets to a point where you don’t have to do that anymore. … At the same point, if it’s something we have to manage from the first day until the end of his career, we’ll do that.”

Unless there’s an injury, Jason Campbell will be the Raiders’ starting quarterback when the team heads to Denver for a Week One “Monday Night Football” clash with the Broncos.

To the surprise of many, the team opted not to draft a player at the position, and head coach Hue Jackson said publicly that Campbell is his guy going forward. When free agency starts, the team is likely to sign a backup to compete with Kyle Boller.

Peter King of SI.com reports Kevin Kolb doesn’t want to be in Philadelphia; he wants to have a chance to get a starting job somewhere else, and Reid has promised to try to make a deal if it benefits the Eagles.

He already has an offer of a first-round pick in the 2012 draft from an unknown team. The window for the 2011 league year opened and closed quickly last week; players like Kolb, who want to be traded, and free agents who want to hit the market have to wait for the league year to open before moving. That could happen this week if the Eighth Circuit forces the NFL to open doors and end the lockout.

Asked how he stands with Kolb right now, Reid said: “We stand with Kevin in an Eagles uniform. We love Kevin. He’s one of the great team guys we’ve had here. We had an idea who was interested in him entering the draft, and now we’ll have to go back and look at it when they tell us we can make moves.”

John Elway said Tim Tebow will compete with veterans Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn for the starting job according to Ed Werder of ESPN. Tebow’s potential was the reason the Broncos used the No. 2 overall draft pick and their other premium draft choices on rebuilding the NFL’s worst defense rather than taking a young quarterback.

“I think where we are as an organization, we are going with Tim,” Elway said.

Elway described himself as being Tebow’s “biggest fan” because if he justifies the first-round draft pick McDaniels spent on him, the Broncos can more quickly recover from a disastrous 4-12 season.

“To have John Elway say positive things about you is just amazing,” Tebow said. “He’s played the game at the highest level possible, and I’m excited because he’s going to be a great asset for me.”