We're over 2 weeks into the free agency period and Terrell Owens is still without a team. All the speculation early on was that Baltimore or Cincinnati would be TO's new home, but Baltimore traded for Anquan Boldin and Cincinati signed Antonio Bryant. Now TO has to be wondering where he should send the VH1 filming crew for his show. Well I scoured the NFL landscape and came up with a few possible destinations for "The TO Show". Listed in order of likelyhood, with the most likely first and the least likely last (at least according to me), here is the list:
Raiders - This seems like such the obvious choice you have to wonder why it wasn't at the top of everyone's list to begin with. Al Davis loves big name WR's and he's never been one to shy away from character issues. Or maybe I just want this to be the place he signs, so I can watch him yell at JaMarcuss "watch my cannon arm throw the checkdown" Russel.
Redskins - How long can Redskins owner Dan Snyder really stay out of the FA market? He's shown that he loves to sign the big name players in the past, and there aren't that many left. Besides, TO gives the Redskins the "home run" threat that they're missing in Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El.
Panthers - Without looking, name as many Panthers WR's as you can not named Steve Smith. I couldn't come up with anyone at first either. They have one of the best 1-2 punches in the running game but they're somewhat one dimensional in their passing attack. They love to throw the deep ball, and teaming up TO with Smith could give them the same 1-2 punch in the passing game that they currently have in the running game.
Jaguars - Tory Holt appears done after only one season and Mike Sims-Walker can be inconsistent. So why not add TO so you can have inconsistent WR's on both sides of the ball?
Seahawks - Brandon Marshall is who the Seahawks really want, but it's very unlikely they'll sign him and lose the 6th overall pick. That means they need Denver to come to the trading table in order to get something done. If things fall through, TO could be their back-up plan.
Patriots - The Patriots took a WR with lots of baggage a few years ago and it worked out really well for them. TO would only be their #3 WR but lining up Randy Moss, Wes Welker once he's back from his injury, and TO all on the field at the same time would be enough to cause nightmares for any secondary. Besides, it would give football fans everywhere one more reason to hate the Pats.
Bears - Rumors surrounding the Bears have Tory Holt signing with them, but adding TO would give Cutler the true go-to WR that he was missing all of last season. Plus, Lovie Smith's job is on the line. Might as well go for broke and sign TO. It's not like he's going to have to clean up the mess if things go badly.
The "What were they thinking" signing of the week has to go to the Jets and the addition of LaDainian Tomlinson. I like LT, and considering their current roster, he gives them a similar 1-2-3 punch to what they had last year. But that's what I don't get. Why not just keep the very same 1-2-3 punch from last season? The Jets cut Thomas Jones and his 1402 rushing yards and 14 TD's to avoid paying his roster bonus. Jones then signed a 2 year 5 million dollar contract with KC. Not long after that, the Jets signed LT to a similar deal (2 years for 5.1 million). But this is the part I don't get. Even if they paid Jones his bonus, he would have only made 5.8 million over the next two seasons. That seems like a very small savings. But it gets worse. Jones repotedly contacted the Jets and told them he'd sign with them if they gave him the same deal KC was offering. In other words, the Jets could have kept Jones for basically the same price they're paying LT. They're almost the same age but Jones has carried the ball 600 times less than LT. Plus, his yards per carry were almost a yard better last season (3.3 for LT, 4.2 for Jones). Maybe the Jets figured the revenue they'd make from the fans buying brand new LT jerseys was worth the drop in production.
In other "What were they thinking" news, Jake Delhomme will earn a reported $19.7 million this season. Of that amount, 7 million will come from the new two year contract he signed with the Browns, but the remaining 12.7 million will be paid by the Panthers. All because they signed him to a 5 year $42.5 million, 20 million guaranteed, contract extension before the start of last season. And what does a 34 year old QB have to do to get such an extension? In 2008, the season before his big extension, Delhomme completed 59.4% of his passes (22nd in the NFL), threw for 3,288 yards (15th), threw 15 TD's and 12 interceptions, and finished with a QB rating of 84.7 (18th). That rating, by the way, was actually worse than the 85.4 rating Trent Edwards posted in Buffalo that same season. But after playing so horribly last year, the Panthers had almost no choice but to cut him, even though they still owed him so much. Delhomme's release from the team was followed by a tear filled press conference by head coach John Fox. No one knows for sure if Fox was crying because he was so sad to see Delhomme gone or if those were really tears of joy.
Around the NFC West, the Cardinals finally found a replacement for departed linebacker Karlos Dansby. They really wanted Larry Foote, but when he ended up signing with the Steelers, the Cards switched their attention to Paris Lenon. I know, I thought the same thing when I read about the signing, "Who?". Lenon played last season with the Rams and finished with 43 tackles. To give you an idea about the dropoff in talent from Dansby to Lenon, I thought I'd show you the scores Scouts Inc. gave them. Scouts Inc. rates every player in the NFL and gives them a numerical grade. Lenon received a score of 59, which is just outside of the 60-69 range they give for average starters. By comparison, Dansby has a score of 84 (Outstanding player) and Patrick Willis has a score of 90 (Elite player). But as the old saying goes, "One man's junk is another man's treasure." And when you're scraping the bottom of the barrel to fill out a roster, I guess you take whatever you can get.
While on the Seahawks front, still no news on any possible Brandon Marshall signing, but they did sign former Patriots TE Chris Baker to a two year 4.75 million contract. The Seahawks originally wanted Benjamin Watson, but they went after Baker, his teammate, once they realized they lost out in the Watson sweepstakes. Which made me ask the question, "Was their really that much demand for a TE that caught 29 passes for 404 yards? And since when have former Patriot TE's been in such high demand?"
Finally, Denver went shopping in the NFL bargain bin over the weekend and found former 1st round pick Brady Quinn. As expected, Brady Quinn was traded away to Denver in exchange for Peyton Hillis, a 6th round pick in 2011, and a conditional pick in 2012. Once the trade was anounced, fans from both teams thought, "Meh". But it does bring up the possibility of Cleveland picking Jimmy Clausen in the upcoming draft. After all, if your first round QB pick out of Notre Dame ends up being a bust, just replace him with another first round QB out of ND.