Latest News & Rumors

AP

Joe Buscaglia of WGR 550 in Buffalo reports that the Bills have agreed to terms with kicker Rian Lindell to an undisclosed contract.

Lindell was scheduled to hit free agency next month. The 35-year-old missed eight games due to a shoulder injury in 2011.

Lindell hit 13-of-15 field goal tries before the injury. He has been Buffalo’s kicker since 2003, and figures to retain the job in 2012.

UPDATE: Rodney McKissic of the Buffalo News reports that the deal is worth $3 million annually. The length of Lindell’s contract remains unknown.

We had a great week in Indianapolis, creating 16 total hours of NBC SportsTalk content and another five editions of PFT Live.  But no interview gives me more cred with 15-year-old Florio Jr. than the last one Russ Thaler and I did.

Adam Sandler joined the show to discuss his next film, That’s My Boy.  Also starring Andy Samberg, James Caan, Leighton Meester, Vanilla Ice, Rex Ryan (yes, Rex Ryan), Dan Patrick and the Danettes (yes, the Danettes), the movie opens Father’s Day weekend.

During the interview, Sandler conceded that the movie is a little “dirty.”  After the interview, Mrs. PFT told Sandler that, as a result, 15-year-old Florio Jr. won’t be permitted to see it.

I’ve got a feeling he’ll find a way.

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Impending free agent tight end Jermichael Finley spoke to reporters in Indianapolis on Friday, and indicated that he and the Packers have had no discussions regarding a new contract.

“Hey, it’s the NFL,” Finley said. “With business right now, I don’t even know what’s going on. … You just have to play that (waiting) game. It’s the Green Bay way.”

For Finley, the “waiting game” has a timeline. NFL teams can begin franchise tagging players on February 20, and have a 15-day window to apply the mechanism.  The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel confirms that Finley is “expected” to pursue classification as a wide receiver as opposed to a tight end.

Finley is listed as tight end on the Packers’ depth chart, but plays a high percentage of snaps in the slot and out wide. An arbitrator would decide Finley’s position as it relates to the tag.

As Mike Florio pointed out way back in November, the monetary difference between the wide receiver and tight end franchise tags is expected to be roughly $4 million.

In a Super Bowl hype week when it feels like every single story about both teams has been thoroughly dissected, one player who hasn’t received much attention is Patriots offensive lineman Marcus Cannon, who is enjoying a much better visit to Indianapolis than he had a year ago.

It was a year go that Cannon, an offensive lineman from TCU, learned that a medical screening at the NFL Scouting Combine yielded some abnormal test results, results which led to further tests that showed he had lymphoma. But the Patriots took a shot on Cannon in the draft anyway, and after he went through treatment in the spring and summer he started to get his strength back. In November he was activated for a game for the first time, and he’s been active for every game since.

Cannon told the Sun Chronicle that he hopes being on football’s biggest stage will allow him to reach other cancer patients who can be inspired by his story.

“I understand that what I went through can possibly help a lot of people,” Cannon said. “If there was one thing I want everybody to know that’s going through the same things, it’s to keep pushing on. Keep going at it. You can make it through.”

Cannon said he always had faith that things would turn out OK, but even he is surprised to see that things have been a lot better than just OK.

“I never imagined this,” he said. “I never imagined coming to the best team in the league and playing in the biggest game of my life. It’s all surreal to me.”

Stevie Johnson joined Florio and Russ Thaler on NBC SportsTalk Friday to talk about the Bills season and his infamous touchdown celebrations.

I could tell you what he said, but then you might not watch the video below.

I can tell you that Florio told me after the interview that Johnson “smelled nice” but he didn’t ask what cologne Johnson was wearing. I am not making this up.

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Giants safety Antrel Rolle’s roller coaster ride in New York is no secret. His up-and-down play has mirrored his inconsistent attitude about his time in New York.

Still, we didn’t know how frustrated Rolle truly was. Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger reports that Rolle wanted out of New York for much of the year, as recently as Week 15.

“He kept telling us he wanted out,” safeties coach David Merritt said.

Merritt kept the encouraging text messages he sent to Rolle at the time and they can be viewed in Garafolo’s article.

“Merritt has helped me a lot,” Rolle said. “We’ve had a lot of 1-on-1 personal conversations, not anything about football, but about life in general. And he’s also a huge reason why I was able to buy into playing my role as a nickel [cornerback]. I was extremely frustrated after the Washington game.”

Rolle has essentially played cornerback most of the year. It hasn’t always played to his strengths, and his frustrations were obvious. Now Tom Coughlin and Rolle are engaged in a public lovefest. Rolle is seen as one of the team leaders.

It’s amazing what six weeks and five wins can do.

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The Giants practiced without pads on Friday and they also practiced without running back Ahmad Bradshaw.

Bradshaw has been battling an injured right foot for much of the season and Tom Coughlin told PFWA pool reporter Peter King that the foot was “a little sore.” His absence on Friday shouldn’t have any bearing on Super Bowl 46, though.

“He’ll be ready,” Coughlin said. “He’ll be listed as probable. In fact, I don’t believe we’ll have anyone listed as questionable for the game.”

Five other Giants are listed as probable on the injury report. Defensive end Osi Umenyiora and safety Tyler Sash were limited in practice while wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, cornerback Corey Webster and linebacker Jacquian Williams were all full participants.

The Giants will hold a jog-through practice during the day on Saturday and 75 minutes of meetings Saturday night to wrap up their week of preparation for the Super Bowl. Coughlin said after Friday’s practice that he’s satisfied with his team’s readiness ahead of the game.

“So far this week, we’ve accomplished what we needed to accomplish,” Coughlin said. “The players have practiced hard and spirited. I think we’ll be well-prepared for the game.”

If you have fantasy football problems, Maurice Jones-Drew can solve them.

The Jaguars running back also talked about the future of the Jaguars, and other fun stuff with Florio on PFT Live Friday.

So I’m going to post it below. Because my brain is fried at the moment and this is about all I can handle.

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Shad Khan is starting to put his stamp on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The new owner announced Friday, via John Oehser of Jaguars.com, that the team will be switching the color of their uniforms from teal to black for the 2013 season. The team previously used black as a third jersey, usually for prime time games, but former owner Wayne Weaver discontinued the practice in 2009 because he felt the team’s various uniform combinations got in the way of establishing a permanent identity.

That identity started changing with the departure of Jack Del Rio as head coach during the season, continued with Khan buying the team and will keep on progressing through the debut of new uniforms. If those changes don’t include some moves that lead to a consistent winner, none of them will do much to really impact the identity of the team outside the fashion pages.

Nike’s arrival as the league’s new uniform supplier is likely part of the decision to make a change. The Jaguars are one of the flagship teams for the apparel behemoth — think Oregon in the college ranks — and will be one of the first teams to get a whole new uniform as part of the change from Reebok.

It looks like someone within the Colts organization talked owner Jim Irsay out of releasing a statement on Peyton Manning’s health on Friday.  (Good idea.)

So he decided to release a statement that says nothing at all instead. With a picture attached!

“Peyton Manning, Jim Irsay and the entire Colts family remain close and unified as we continue to work through all the options that relate to his future with the Colts,” the statement reads. “The present focus is on the Super Bowl and the great game that awaits.

“A good time was had by all at the Colts party Thursday night.”

Colts fans everywhere surely say thank you.

We can feel the awkwardness just looking at that picture. It’s like a divorcing family’s last Christmas card.

UPDATE 4:56 p.m. ET: Yes, that is Meg Ryan in the photo.

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Last year we passed along word of a legal challenge to the NFL’s conduct policy for fans. Now the fan challenging that policy is coming forward to press his case and say he shouldn’t have been kicked out of a stadium for dropping an F-bomb is filing a lawsuit over it.

Eric Holguin, an off-duty Los Angeles police officer who attended the Cardinals-Chargers game in October of 2010 and wore Cardinals colors at Qualcomm Stadium, said that he was kicked out of the stadium after saying “F— you” to two Chargers fans who challenged him to a fight. Security personnel removed him from the stadium for the obscenity, and now he’s filing a lawsuit.

“A fan has a right to say ‘[expletive] you’ in public. It’s a public place,” Holguin’s attorney, Mary Frances Prevost, told 10 News in San Diego.

Holguin’s lawsuit seeks an injunction asking the city of San Diego to stop enforcing rules for fan behavior at Petco Park and Qualcomm stadium, including the NFL’s Fan Code of Conduct, which ban obscene and offensive language.

The San Diego City Attorney’s Office, however, has said that it’s concerned that profane arguments can escalate into violence, and that families will be less likely to go to games if they believe they’re going to be subjected to profanity. The Chargers also issued a statement supporting the NFL Code of Conduct.

“The NFL’s Code of Conduct has helped make fans further aware that their behavior has an impact on others, and ultimately has helped curtail the number of incidents league-wide,” the Chargers’ statement said. “The NFL Code of Conduct has been and will continue to be a strong asset to our efforts.”

That is, it will continue if Holguin’s lawsuit is unsuccessful.

Reuters

The Patriots have practiced so much since the AFC title game, they won’t even do a walk-through on Saturday.

Their walk-through was done Friday, and tight end Rob Gronkowski participated in the light session as expected. He’s officially listed as questionable and coach Bill Belichick told PFWA pool reporter Alex Marvez there were “no setbacks” to the Gronkle this week.

“Dressed in gray sweatpants, gray sneakers and a dark blue t-shirt bearing the popular ‘Yo Soy Fiesta’ phrase he recently coined, Gronkowski moved without a limp when the Patriots executed their offensive plays,” Marvez wrote.

The Patriots will take a team photo on Saturday, but they are done with their on-field work before the big game.

“I think we’re ready to go. We’ve worked hard this week Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in practice, and we had good practices back (in Foxborough, Mass.) last week. We went through some mental-review things out there [Friday],” Belichick said.

The Patriots list 11 players as questionable, including Gronkowski and tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back/illness.) All the Patriots players are expected to be available for the game.

Our usual PFT Picks will be on the site Saturday, but for now you can watch Florio and I make our Super Bowl predictions on PFT Live.

I genuinely didn’t know which was Florio was leaning until we taped.

Based on our conversation, I’m not sure Florio knew which way he was leaning until halfway through the conversation.

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Rams coach Jeff Fisher says his team is set with Sam Bradford at quarterback, which means there’s a good chance he’ll trade the second overall pick in the NFL draft to a team that wants Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III.

And he says acquiring a package of players and picks from such a trade could potentially stock the franchise for years to come.

“There are going to be teams that have some interest in that pick,” Fisher told Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “What we do will define the future of this franchise moving forward.”

Fisher isn’t ready to say for sure that the Rams will trade down, but it certainly seems likely that some teams will love Griffin enough that they want to make the trade that guarantees they can draft him. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck will almost certainly go to the Colts first overall, and Griffin will surely be the No. 2 player on many draft boards.

“If we stay there who do we take, if we move down who do we take, what if we move down and come back up,” Fisher said, running through the possibilities. “That’s going to define the future.”

Fisher said he doesn’t anticipate the Rams ever being in this position again, as long as he’s around.

“I promise you this,” Fisher said. “We will not be picking second again. This is the last time we’re picking second.”

AP

Luck remains the most overlooked factor in what decides a champion.

Giants G.M. Jerry Reese had a great quote this week that spoke to how things outside of a team’s control can often make all the difference in deciding public perception. Or even a season.

“Last year we win 10 games and we don’t qualify for the tournament and you’re not that smart,” Reese said. “This time, we win nine games, win a division, less games, and now it seems I’m pretty smart again. It just comes with the territory and that’s just part of it. It just is what it is.”

This happened to be a year that nine wins was enough for the Giants to get in the playoffs. That wouldn’t work most year.

This happened to be a year in the AFC where the vulnerable Patriots secondary didn’t have to face a great quarterback to make the Super Bowl.

That’s just how it goes. You need to be very good to make the Super Bowl, and you usually need to be a little lucky.