Pryor Will Successfully Appeal Suspension

 Posted by at 9:26 AM  9 Responses »
Sep 042011
 

It is common belief that Terrelle Pryor was suspended five games by the NFL because of his miss steps at Ohio State. This is simply untrue. Terrelle Pryor was suspended five games for not following the rules of the supplemental draft entry process.

Pryor hired Drew Rosenhaus before he was ruled ineligible for the first five games at Ohio State. Based on the rules of the supplemental draft Pryor should have been ineligible for entry.

The power of the media and his agent put the league in a tough position. Instead of doing what they should have done and forced Pryor to sit for a year, the NFL allowed his entry while trying to appear tough.

There are basically two arguments Pryor will be able to make to get the suspension lifted.

1) The NFL is punishing Pryor because they chose to not follow their own rules. There is no precedent or rule that allows for any such suspension.

2) The five-game suspension is the NFL is punishing Pryor for his college mistakes. This is also unprecedented.

The NFL should have forced Pryor to sit out the season. They didn’t and punished Pryor for making an exception. The five game suspension was intentionally the same number of games as his college suspension to hide the fact that the NFL really should not have allowed his entry at all.

This was a major mistake by the NFL. Now the NFL has a player who should have never been drafted with a NFL contract.

Why is this important? When Mike Williams and Maurice Clarett tried to gain entry into the draft the NFL would not budge. The players fought through the courts unsuccessfully to gain entry.

Players in the future will now be able to leverage this situation into allowing their entry into the draft. If the NFL denies their entry it will put the league at risk of losing a court case with unknown and potentially far-reaching consequences.

To mitigate the risk of any such court case the NFL will now lift Pryor’s suspension and say to the world that they were wrong to suspend Pryor for his college conduct even though that is not the reason he was suspended.

If the NFL chooses to stand tough on the issue they will likely lose in arbitration and re-open the can of worms.

It is now to the league’s benefit to lift the suspension and move on and that is just what they will do.

Prediction Fiction: Who Will Make The 53?

 Posted by at 11:12 PM  4 Responses »
Sep 022011
 

It’s been a good run, even if it ends this year. No one has been better at predicting the 53-man roster for the past few years. My not-so-humble brag will ultimately make this prediction terrible, but I’ve got to make it anyway.

 

Quarterbacks (3+1)

Jason Campbell

Kyle Boller

Trent Edwards

Terrelle Pryor (roster exemption while he is suspended)

 

Running backs (5)

Darren McFadden

Michael Bush

Taiwan Jones

Rock Cartwright

Marcel Reece

 

Receivers (6)

Darrius Heyward Bey

Jacoby Ford

Louis Murphy

Denarius Moore

Chaz Schilens

Derek Hagan

 

Tight Ends (3)

Kevin Boss

Brandon Myers

David Ausberry

 

Offensive Tackles (4)

Jared Veldheer

Stephon Heyer

Khalif Barnes

Joseph Barksdale

 

Offensive Guards (3)

Stefen Wisniewski

Cooper Carlisle

Bruce Campbell

 

Center (1)

Samson Satele

 

Defensive Tackles (4)

Richard Seymour

Tommy Kelly

John Henderson

Desmond Bryant

 

Defensive Ends (4)

Lamarr Houston

Matt Shaughnessy

Trevor Scott

Jarvis Moss

 

Linebackers (6)

Rolando McClain

Kamerion Wimbley

Quentin Groves

Darryl Blackstock

Jeremy Leman

Sam Williams

 

Safties (5)

Michael Huff

Tyvon Branch

Mike Mitchell

Chimdi Chekwa

Stevie Brown

 

Cornerbacks (6)

Stanford Routt

Chris Johnson

Demarcus Van Dyke

Lito Sheppard

Walter McFadden

Jeremy Ware

 

Specialists (3)

Sebastian Janikowski

Shane Lechler

Jon Condo

Pryor Signs, Tatupu Next?

 Posted by at 11:49 PM  No Responses »
Aug 252011
 

Reports surfaced early Thursday that Terrelle Pryor had agreed to terms with the Raiders. Of course, Raiders executive John Herrera denied the report, but said Pryor would hopefully sign his deal tonight.

Well, now it is official, Terrelle Pryor has signed his contract and the Raiders have announced he will be on the field Friday in Napa.

Friday marks the final day of training camp and it will be interesting to see how the Raiders handle Pryor before breaking camp.

The timing couldn’t be better. The Raiders will showcase Pryor for one day at camp before returning to the uber-secret facility in Alameda where they can start to starch and iron Pryor’s warts.

Pryor’s deal is worth $2,808,100 over four years if he hits all the playing time incentives. In 2011, $586,000 is guaranteed with a base salary of $375,000. In 2012, he will earn $485,000 and $20,300 available in playing time incentives. In 2013, his salary will be $595,000 with a playing time incentive of $40,700. In 2014, his salary will be $645,000 with a 61,100 play-time incentive.

Very reasonable deal for a boom or bust type prospect like Pryor. The best comparison I’ve heard is Seneca Wallace, but Pryor is bigger and faster than Wallace.

With Pryor’s deal complete that leaves just one lingering question? Are the Raiders going to bring in a linebacker?

The Raiders have been in constant contact with Lofa Tatupu, but have been looking for a player that can play outside linebacker. There is much concern if Tatupu would be effective outside or would be more of an insurance policy for Rolando McClain.

Keith Bulluck’s name has been floated by some as a potential outside linebacker option.

The Raiders might pull the trigger on Tatupu or a player like Bulluck in the next few days or wait until cuts are made around the league to see what kind of quality is available at linebacker.

Tatupu and Bulluck probably don’t have a ton of suitors, so the Raiders can afford to gamble and wait to see what kind of player become available over the next two weeks.

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