Sean Smith Gives a Sneak Peek into the New Nike Uniforms

Nike is taking over the NFL jerseys this year and as I had posted before, Nike has tweaked some things to the uniform. One of them was the NFL gloves, which were worn during the Pro Bowl. The same concept as the college football gloves when both hand are put together and the logo was seen was incorporated. I also noted that the logo color seemed to be a new color, a lighter aqua, which as seen in the logo from the picture that Sean Smith posted on his twitter account seems to be lighter than the original. An excellent point was made by a follower of this blog Vic107m, a graphic designer, who stated in a comment on the previous post that "Nike did in fact slightly change the design. The same aqua is present, but they have incorporated a gradient from the aqua we know and love to a lighter more vibrant version of the color. This helps create more depth in the figure." I thought personally this was a pretty cool change.

Also as seen in the photo, the Nike logo is also present on the sleeve, which is a minor change to the jersey. It is rumored that the jerseys will be revealed during the draft in April but they could always be leaked before that, in a manner similar to what Sean Smith did.

Below is also a photo of the gloves revealed during the pro bowl.

Dolphins Agree to Trade Brandon Marshall to the Bears

The Dolphins have traded Brandon Marshall to the Bears for 2 3rd round picks, one this year and another next year. This, in my opinion, probably means that they are really close to signing Manning and need to clear up cap space. Brandon Marshall was one of the highest paid WRs so it does make sense in that aspect. Also there was a report that Manning did not want to play with Marshall because of his attitude on the field and he will demand the ball, something that Manning did not want to put up with. In those two aspects it makes perfect sense, we clear up a lot of cap space (we only had 9 million) so we can sign Manning and his former teammates Reggie Wayne, Saturday and/or Clark. This is just my educated guess, so I could be wrong and maybe the Dolphins may not end up getting Manning, but from my point of view it certainly looks like they will now.

Peyton's place

The reports that Peyton may have not shown as much "love" for Miami because he was being followed like oj Simpson on the la freeway probably were exaggerated. But they were funny and undoubtedly had some element of truth to them. He's lived in relative quiet in Indy, and here he would be the (latest) savior. But there's more to it than that. He stressed to the broncos and cardinals that he wants to win superbowls. End of story. Miami is more than a qb away and has an entirely new coaching staff. And by all reports players are not generally wowed by Jeff Ireland. And Stephen Ross' - lets say quirkiness - may hurt more than help. So maybe he goes to another city. And Miami has to go another direction. Please, please, please draft a qb this year!

If by Tuesday Manning hasn't made a decision, Dolphins should pursue another QB

Manning stayed overnight today in Denver and it seems like Manning will be the Broncos starting QB because, like the Dolphins, they also play in the AFC but they play in a weaker division where Manning won't have to play against Brady. Also the Broncos have over 40 million of cap space, which is a ton at this stage, so they can afford to sign Manning and then get a WR and TE in free agency. We already know Elway hates Tebow as a QB, which is one of the worst kept secrets in the league so that's not a factor right now.

But I am getting off topic, the Dolphins can not be used like they were with Fisher and Harbaugh. Look at what the Jets and Redskins did, they noticed that they might not have a chance at Manning so they went a different direction and now it does not seem like they desperate for Manning and settled on their backup plan.

If the Dolphins feel like Manning is not coming then get out of the equation, give Philbin his player at QB which could be Flynn or Tannehill, based on his and Sherman's opinion. Give Manning up until Tuesday if he, and if he chooses the Dolphins great have him and draft a QB in the draft, if he chooses Denver or is still unsure go after Flynn, if and only if Philbin feels that Flynn can be a franchise QB and if he and Sherman agree that he is a better QB than Tannehill. Philbin and Sherman are both familiar with the two QBs Flynn and Tannehill so its not the end of the world if we don't get Manning. Get some other weapons in the draft and free agency, implement Philbin's own system and go from there.

Anyways one report said that Philbin is used to the Packers way of thinking which does not believe that free agency is the right route to go and he would rather develop there own guys via the draft. Philbin developed Flynn so that could be the exception since he is his guy.

We can not risk losing out on Flynn by pursuing Manning and then have a team like the Browns get him, who we now know will not get RG3.

Dolphins no longer the favorites?

First of all I think the Adam Schefter report that now Manning to the Dolphins is dwindling because of the media attention he got yesterday is not accurate in my opinion. I know Schefter has his sources but I just can't see that being the reason why the Dolphins are no longer the favorites. If Manning where to be that much afraid of the Miami media then why does he own a condo in South Beach? I just don't see Manning deciding where he wants to go based on where there is less media attention. I think he went to Denver just to get a feel of all possibilities, visit the facility and the go to Arizona to do the same thing. Remember Manning has lived in Miami and he also worked out in the facility when he went to the Super Bowl a few years ago so he already has a feel for the Dolphins.

On another note the Broncos are really taking a big risk on Manning. If he chooses not to go to the Broncos then it is already public that you do not trust in Tebow, which is pretty big blow to his confidence.

Also I hadn't realized but the Cardinals are something like 13 million above the cap. They will have to do a lot of trimming to their roster and restructure contracts, maybe lose around 30 million to sign him. Plus they won't have money for players like Wayne or other free agents to add to their roster.

All this Peyton Manning news is moving pretty fast

I don't know about you guys but this Manning news is going by really quick. Every time I visit Nfl.com or ESPN I see this new report dealing with Manning, whether that be a team just jumped in to the race or a team dropped out. Apparently now the Redskins are out because according to sources Manning's people contacted them saying that he would not play in the same division as his brother. Also Marshall Faulk said Peyton will not go to any of the NFC teams. This makes sense because 1) Manning has spent years studying the AFC teams and at this stage in his career he would not want to go to a new division and 2) Peyton does not want to go to the same conference as Eli. This is one of the reasons when Eli got drafted he did not want to go to the Chargers, he did not want to be in the same division as Peyton.

If these reports are true then that rules out 16 teams automatically just because they are in the NFC. Also you can eliminate team like the Patriots, Colts Steelers etc. for obvious reason. The Dolphins, Jets, Broncos and Titans if all the reports are true. I can't see him going to the Jets and Broncos because I think it would bring too much drama and the Titans don't seem like a likely scenario.

From all the reports that I have read I have come to the conclusion that I seriously think the Dolphins are the favorites. I could be wrong, maybe the Cardinals make a strong case and Manning disregards the fact he could play against his brother to reach the Super Bowl. But it just seems like the Dolphins make so much sense for Manning and the only downside I can find, if this is one, is that he would have to play the Patriots twice and we are in a fairly hard division. However Peyton is extremely competitive and could always make that a plus instead of a negative for the Dolphin's chances.

Oh when the Saints...knock people out....

This story is remarkable.  On the one hand, you have players who want to know "who ratted ?" and its "something that goes on everywhere"....while on the other hand, you have the media in a frenzy about the inegrity of the game and the protection of players.

And somewhere in the middle is Roger Goodell.  He finds himself in a tough spot.  When spygate broke as news a few seasons ago, Goodell destroyed whatever evidence there was.  Then, we heard from the feds that they weren't too happy with his decision.  There was talk about whether they might step in if there was a future incident, whether the NFL deserved its exemptions, and so forth.

So this time, he came clean and broke the story himself.  And he will have to come in with some penalties that maybe don't really fit with the story.  That's really his only recourse.

This story, though, is about more than a bounty on big hits.  That kind of stuff surely happens.  This is about the organization condoning it, maybe even encouraging it.  Given the way the Penn State scandal broke, and the reality that many turned a blind eye because the guy was part of the program, we appear to have something similar (though much less criminal) here.  People accepted it for whatever reason.

But that's not quite all.  There was a story earlier today about some "guy" who may have contributed to the pool of money.  That scares the NFL....who was he?  What was his involvement?

At the end of the day, this could be gambling, and surely the feds would jump on that. 

And even though the amounts were small, the fact that someone else, or the organization, were paying players above and beyond their contracts undermines the collective bargaining that was so hard fought - and that Drew Brees was a huge part of as a major player in the union, and yet he was in the locker room...

It sure seems to me that this is more than hits to injure - its about the money.  And its about the "institutional control" that the NCAA holds near and dear, and that the NFL always assumed was the case among their teams.

Peyton Manning to be released

Get ready for some shocking news, make sure you are sitting down for this, Peyton Manning will be released from the Colts. I know this may not come to a surprise to some of you but it's (almost) official now. The Colts are expected break the news officially on Wednesday where Manning and Irsay are expecting to have a the press conference in Indy.

I was sort of nervous that Manning might not have been released and that the Colts would have decided to keep Manning and let Luck sit for a year. Now it's just time for all the speculation to hit full gear now. Hopefully Miami is the place he ends up.