NFL Locks

The Denver Broncos saga continues as their star wideout Brandon Marshall fails to show up for practice. Now Marshall promised to show up to camp, but he didn't say he would cooperate after that.

The Broncos are a mess right now, Shanahan was given a gag order, Cutler is in Chicago, Marshall is not happy and they can't sign their rookie running back Knowshon Moreno. Absolutely nothing has gone right since the Broncos fired Mike Shanahan.

There is almost no doubt in my mind now that Brandon Marshall will be the next to leave Denver due to the mess of the Broncos franchise.

When you think of the best tight ends in the NFL right now a few names come to mind. Jason Witten, Antonio Gates and of course Tony Gonzalez.

Gonzalez may be on the downside of his career, but he is still one of the top three tight ends in the league. Since the Kansas City Chiefs wanted to go in a different and younger direction this offseason Gonzalez was moved to the Atlanta Falcons to play with up and comers Roddy White, Michael Turner and Matt Ryan.

Great move for Gonzalez right? Maybe, but he will not be the number one go to guy like he was in Kansas City. In fact, there are talks of him being more of a blocker rather than a playmaker like he has become known for.

The Falcons have a great passing offense, but their ground is their bread and butter with Turner coming out of the backfield.

Should be interesting to see how Gonzalez fits into the scheme of things in Atlanta.

Is two years in prison enough punishment for Michael Vick? Will one year out of football be too much for Vick to bounceback from?

My answer is yes to both question as I believe that two years in prison is more than enough punishment for Vick. I hate what he did as an animal lover myself, but two years locked up and his reputation destroyed seems like enough for an athlete like Vick to handle.

Now that Michael Vick on house arrest in Virginia all the questions of what is next for Vick have been coming up with no real answers, but it seems as though NFL commissioner Roger Goodell may have answered them for him as he intends to suspend Michael Vick for one year for his actions.

I can't remember an offseason in the NFL in recent memory more involved with trade rumors.

First it was Matt Cassel which evolved into the Jay Cutler saga, then it was where were high priced free agents like Albert Haynesworth and TJ Housmandzadeh going to land. All throughout this time, even during the NFL playoffs, the future of Anquan Boldin was in serious question.

It is no secret Boldin has not been happy in Arizona due to other superstars like Kurt Warner and especially Larry Fitzgerald getting huge contract extensions.

Since then we have heard Boldin has been rumored to be on his way to all sorts of teams from the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants to now the Miami Dolphins. All these teams are good fits for Boldin, but no deals have gotten done.

Personally, I think he would be better off staying put or going to Philly, but the way things are going this superstar wide receiver could end up anywhere.

A trade rumor going around the NFL recently has been a Julius Peppers going to Denver in exchange for pain in the ass quarterback Jay Cutler.

Nothing is set in stone and to be honest the Broncos still would not get enough from the Carolina Panthers to make this deal something they would pursue.

Peppers would definitely improve a very bad defense in Denver, especially alongside Brian Dawkins, but now the offense would suffer without a Pro Bowl quarterback like Cutler.

The Broncos have been talking about making Chris Simms the starter, but he hasn't really played since he had to have his spleen removed after a monster hit when he was with the Tampa Bay Bucs.

The Broncos need to upgrade the defense and not loose any punch on offense or they will be in the same boat as last season, but just on the different side of the field.

It is looking like a two team race to get Julius Peppers from the Carolina Panthers between the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys.

The Patriots have seemed to have the knack for getting solid defensive players in their prime or on the downside of their career looking for Super Bowl ring. The Dallas Cowboys on the other hand just missed out on Ray Lewis who said it was his dream to play in Dallas and then signed with the Baltimore Ravens again.

Fortunately for the Cowboys now Julius Peppers looks to be headed their way. When it comes down to it, the Patriots just will not have the money to pay Peppers when the time comes, but supposedly Dallas will.

With addition of Peppers to the Dallas, the Cowboys defense could be arguably the best in the NFL next season.

There was no team more successful last season in the NFL than the Atlanta Falcons.

I know they didn't win the Super Bowl or even get past the first round of the playoffs, but after what they went through in Michael Vick fiasco the Falcons looked like they would be the worst team in the NFL for quite some time.

After Atlanta drafted Matt Ryan sky was the limit for the Falcons. They added running back Michael Turner and a superstar wide receiver emerged in Roddy White.

There honestly weren't many flaws in the Falcons game plan last season, but any team in the NFL will be willing to upgrade their defense if they get the chance and that is exactly what the Falcons were able to do by signing linebacker Mike Peterson. He may not be a Ray Lewis game changer, but he is definitely an upgrade for an already great football team.

 One of the most underrated running backs in the game today is the New York Giants power back Brandon Jacobs. 

The guy puts up solid numbers every season now and you never hear his name mention with the other top running backs in the game like LaDainian Tomlinson or Adrian Peterson. He may not be as quick as LT or Peterson, but he definitely gets the job done for the Giants as they have tried to recover from losing Tiki Barber a couple seasons ago.

As a way of showing their appreciation for Jacobs they have labeled him with the franchise tag much like what the New England Patriots have done with back up quarterback Mat Cassel who played great in place of an injured Tom Brady.

With this franchise tag Jacobs will be guaranteed to make at least $6.6 million if he sticks with the New York Giants or decides to go elsewhere. 

Pretty good deal for a very good running back!

Now the NBA becomes more to me now that football is winding down.  This is my first blog on this site for basketball.  Going with the Nets -4 against the Kings.  This is just a gut feeling.  Haven't paid alot of attention to basketball, college or pro so far this year.  Gotta get crack'n and do some research to make a more sound bet.  I do like this one though.

Football is winding down now, but still enough time to win some change.  I like Atlanta -2  over  Arizona.  Atlanta is really playing well right now when it counts.   The past few weeks Atlanta has peaked in all areas of the game.  Arizona has played well as well, but Atlanta has the edge.   Good Luck