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The much maligned but uber-talented Vontaze Burfict appears to be involved in another run in that would raise concerns about his maturity.  The Arizona Republic has confirmed that punches were thrown between Vontaze Burfict and teammate Kevin Ozier. 

SportsbyBrooks broke the Burfict story claiming that Burfict “suckerpunched” Kevin Ozier in the locker room following Wednesday’s practice.  The piece on SportsbyBrooks has strong overtones of a premeditated assault by Burfict on Ozier.  The Arizona Republic story cites ASU spokesman Mark Brand where he calls many parts of the SportsbyBrooks story “completely false.” 

We are not breaking any news on this story, merely shedding light on one the best, most talented linebackers in the country.  Burfict is rated as 9^th overall prospect in NFL’s Future 2012 NFL Draft rankings.  Burfict’s only downside is what is seen as a lack of maturity and uncontrollable temper.  This story gives credence to both of those attributes, if true.  Burfict was benched for a quarter last season due to a head-butting incident against Oregon State.  He is known for his physical style of play and sometimes over the top aggression. 

We were berated by emailers for ranking Burfict as the 9^th best prospect due to position and as one emailer put it; “his rage issues.”  Watching Burfict on tape it is impossible not to notice him on every play.  There are very few players who can make that impact but Burfict does.  Watching the 2010 Oregon game sums up the talent that lies in Burfict’s violent style of play.  He roams sideline-to-sideline making punishing tackles, leaping oncoming blockers, and shows Ray Lewis-like instincts to find ball carriers. 

Trust me when I tell you that NFL scouts will “overlook” these issues of rage and any story of him punching a teammate because Burfict is that good.  His maturity will come with time and much like his idol Ray Lewis he will develop into a leader on and off the field.

NFL’s Future will be hosting a twelve team battle royale for bragging rights for an entire year on the site.  We are inviting 10 readers to join our 12 team league hosted by Yahoo.  Email me with your information and we will give you instructions for signing up.  The first 10 people will get in and the rest will be left wondering if they could have held the crown of NFL’s Future Fantasy Football Champion.  The deadline will be August 20th so act quickly.

On so many levels the Miami Dolphins are resembling the level of dysfunction that runs deep in the Mike Brown-run Cincinnati organization.  And who’s to blame?

Tony Sparano, Jeff Ireland, Stephen Ross….the list goes on in this game of cat and mouse.  After consecutive 7-9 seasons the Miami fan base (doesn’t even sound right) has taken the blame to the guy they once where resting the future of the organization on, Chad Henne.  Coming into the 2010 season there were talks of Henne breaking out and breaking into the first layer of elite NFL quarterbacks.  And now he is being lambasted with chants of “Kyle Orton.”

The chants of “Kyle Orton” are those of a misplaced fan base looking for a better answer from an incompetent front office and head coach.  One that won’t come with Jeff Ireland, Stephen Ross, and Tony Sparano working together.

This level of mistrust that lies within the Dolphins started when Owner Stephen Ross publicly made it known that Jim Harbaugh was his first choice as head coach of his football team.  That would have been fine if Harbaugh would have accepted the Dolphins head coaching position.  Then came GM Jeff Ireland’s public vote of confidence for his 25-year old QB; “He’s the guy on our football team that we have to be committed to because he’s the only one we have right now.”  Confidence inspiring words of encouragement for the once hope of the organization.  It gets worse. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Buffalo Bills- Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford   The Bills finished 4-12 last season. It’s going to get worse in 2011. They lost the heart of their defense in free agency (Posluszny) and teams will no longer be caught off guard by Chan Gailey’s gimmicky offense. After hanging tough in most of their first 14 contests in ’10, the bottom fell out in the final two weeks of the season (a 34-3 loss to the Pats and a 38-7 mauling by the Jets). Those two games are precursors to what’s in store forBuffalo in 2011. With journeyman QB Ryan Fitzpatrick hitting the free agent market after this season, the question isn’t whether the Bills will draft Andrew Luck first overall, it’s whether Luck would actually be willing to sign with the Bills. An Eli Manning/John Elway-type draft day situation could be on the horizon.

2. Oakland Raiders- Landry Jones, QB, Oklahoma   The Raiders surprised some folks with an 8-8 finish in 2010, but things will go south this season. I’m not buying Jason Campbell as the answer in Oakland, regardless of Al Davis’ delusional Jim Plunkett comparisons. Campbell is 30-years old and has been a frustratingly inconsistent QB his entire career. That’s not going to just suddenly change, and gritty Bruce Gradkowski is no longer around to bail the Raiders out when Campbell tanks. Factor in the loss of Oakland’s two most consistent players (Asomugha & Miller) and what should be return-to-Earth seasons from Seymour, Wimbley and Huff (all of whom Davis grossly overpaid after they turned in textbook contract years), and this team has “4-12″ written all over it. Campbell is a free agent in ’11 and I’m guessing the Raiders let him walk. QB Landry Jones is the NFL prototype (6-4/230) and is coming off of a So. season in which he broke OU’s single-season completions record (405) and tied Bradford’s mark for passing yards in a game (468) on the way to a stellar campaign (4,718 yds/65.6%/38-12). He’ll only get better this season and should contend for the Heisman as the Sooners make a run for the National Championship. In any other year, Jones would be the consensus #1 overall pick.

3. Denver Broncos- Quinton Coples, DE, North Carolina   The Broncos go into an abbreviated 2011 season trying to establish new schemes & philosophies on both sides of the ball, with the ugly Perrish Cox scandal and an impending QB controversy hanging over their heads. It’s going to be rough for a while. Elway & Xanders obviously aren’t sold on Tim Tebow. If Landry Jones was available here, I think that the Broncos would draft him quicker than a jackrabbit on a date. Since he’s off the board in my scenario,Denver will continue to upgrade their anemic defense with Quinton Coples (6-6/280), who looks every bit the part of an NFL 4-3 base end and is primed for a huge season following a 2010 All-ACC performance. Should Tebow bomb and the incumbent LDE, Robert Ayers, surprisingly emerge as a force in his third season, then all bets are off and Matt Barkley will be in play at #3.

4. Minnesota Vikings- Matt Kalil, OT, USC   Donovan McNabb isn’t the answer at QB and I’m guessing that Christian Ponder gets extensive action this year. The Vikes made a desperate reach for need when they selected Ponder at #12 overall. I know that he already has his master’s degree, has a great work ethic and all of that good stuff, but so did Craig Krenzel. Ponder has never been able to stay healthy and was prone to costly miscues at FSU. For better or for worse, he’s the QB going forward in Minnesota, and protecting him should be priority #1. The release of LT Bryant McKinnie was long overdue. He was the personification of the Childress Era that the Vikings are trying to put in the rearview mirror. However, Charlie Johnson isn’t the solution on the blindside. Johnson’s marginal success in Indy was a direct result of incredible “coaching up” from ex O-line coach Howard Mudd and the simple fact that Peyton Manning gets the ball out of his hand so damned fast that he rarely takes a sack. Johnson will be exposed this year and the Vikings will go into the 2012 NFL Draft looking for a true franchise LT to serve as Ponder’s bodyguard for the next decade. Kalil (6-7/295) is a good athlete who plays with great balance and heavy hands. He’s well-coached, experienced and has NFL bloodlines. This should be an easy pick for the Vikings. Read the rest of this entry »

The Steelers were one of many teams that needed to cut cap by Friday.  They were $8 million over the cap and looking to restructure deals as opposed to cutting players.

The Steelers had placed the franchise tag on OLB LaMarr Woodley which would have put Woodley’s 2011 cap number in the eight figures.  Now they have made Woodley the second highest paid Steeler in the history of the organization.  Second to QB Ben Roethlisberger’s 8-year, $102 million deal.

LaMarr Woodley has agreed to a 6-year, $61.5 million deal that will $18.1 million in the first year and $27 million over the first two years.

Woodley outpaced fellow Steeler OLB James Harrison who signed a 6-year, $51.7 million deal in 2009.

Woodley has 39 sacks in his four year career.  He drew some criticism recently about his comments to Baltimore Raven QB Joe Flacco.  Woodley stated that Flacco would never make it to a Super Bowl during his lifetime.  I guess this signing means the Ravens shouldn’t expect to be Super Bowl contenders at least until 2017.

The free agent frenzy has left me sleepless and my email inbox flooded with questions about where each teams stand on the 2011 salary cap.  As much as I would like to believe I have a grip on how capologists do their job, I have no clue.  The task of figuring out players cut, players added, salary numbers, signing bonuses, and what counts against the cap number and what doesn’t has left me mindless.

These salary cap numbers are reflective of moves made as of August 4th.  Keep in mind they are my best educated guesses on some of these numbers, some of which have been confirmed by other sources.  Here’s a look at most of the NFL team salary cap figures:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers  -29.6 million

Kansas City Chiefs  -28.4 million

Jacksonville Jaguars  -28 million

Cleveland Browns  -27.6 million

Cincinnati Bengals -27.1 million

Denver Broncos  -26.5 million Read the rest of this entry »

32.  Buffalo Bills – The Bills did nothing to improve an already bad roster.  They lost Paul Posluszny and replaced him with an injury prone Nick Barnett.  They were able to keep Drayton Florence but with only Brad Smith and Tyler Thigpen coming aboard the Bills could be in for a very long season and on their way to winning the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.

31.  San Francisco 49ers – The 49ers have done nothing to make me believe they will finish with anymore than 3-4 wins.  Jim Harbaugh’s first season with SF could be a painful one.  Alex Smith is still their starting QB and they added nothing to help him on either side of the ball.

30.  Washington Redskins – The Redskins did their best to improve their terrible defense.  Unfortunately they are still looking at starting one of the following:  Rex Grossman, John Beck, or Kellen Clemens.  Good luck winning games with that trio.  The Redskins did just enough to keep them out of Andrew Luck contention and not enough to compete.

29.  Cincinnati Bengals – The Bengals made some nice additions after losing Jonathan Joseph to the Texans.  They were able to re-sign Cedric Benson, add Manny Lawson, Thomas Howard, and Nate Clements to the defense and found a starting guard in Max Jean Gilles.  However, they are in the same position as Washington, with their QB options as Bruce Gradkowski, Andy Dalton, Jordan Palmer, or Dan LeFevour.

28.  Miami Dolphins – I like what the Dolphins did in free agency but I don’t like the feel of this organization.  Fans are already starting Kyle Orton chants in Training Camp and Chad Henne isn’t seasoned enough to handle that pressure.  With the only other QB option of Matt Moore they could be in trouble.  The signings of Reggie Bush, Kevin Burnett, and Ron Fields were nice additions but won’t win them anymore games.

27.  Tennessee Titans – The Titans will be banking on Matt Hasselbeck to carry them.  That spells disaster for this team.  They didn’t do much to improve a bad offensive line and lost Stephen Tulloch.  If this team starts out poorly we could see Jake Locker pressed into action at which point they will be lucky to win 3-4 games. Read the rest of this entry »

NFL’s Future will be starting it’s first annual NFL’s Future Fantasy Football League.  We will be looking for 10 more participants to join the league as it will be a 12 team league on Yahoo.  If you are interested in joining the league, email me with your information and we will give you instructions on how to get signed up and ready to go.

MICHEAL PROFETTA

Four months of NFL offseason activity condensed into a five-day span…whew! It was intense, even for the most insatiable of football fans. The smoke is beginning to clear following this unprecedented looting of the free agent market, and there’s not much left on the shelves.  Save for a few remaining mid-level signings and a few possible trades, the serious action is in the books. With the NFL Draft and free agency in the rearview mirror, it’s time to assess the remodeled NFL landscape and decide which teams emerged from the chaos vastly improved, which teams took a beating, and ultimately, how it effects the potential makeup of the 2012 NFL Draft order… no small factor to us Draft-obsessed fellas here at NFL’s Future.

THE BIG WINNERS

Philadelphia Eagles   The Eagles 2010 season came to an end in a 21-16 loss to Green Bay in the NFC Playoffs. On paper, they’ve more than made up that five-point discrepancy with their extraordinary free agency haul and solid draft that netted mature, plug ‘n’ play starters Danny Watkins and Jaiqawn Jarrett. Jason Babin, DRC, Scrabble, VY…by the time they signed Cullen Jenkins, it seemed like they were just showing off. It’s not just that they acquired these big-name players, they did it at reasonable cost. An improved pass-rush and the best set of corners in the NFL will offer much greater resistance to the Packers’ aerial assault should the road to the Super Bowl once again go through Green Bay. Vince Young offers deluxe insurance should Vick get injured and a premium trading chip for the future. We’ve seen similar, mind-blowing free agent hauls in the past, and they’ve often disrupted a team’s chemistry and, ultimately, backfired. I don’t see that happening here. This is a stable organization and Andy Reid is just too good of a coach to lose his locker room. Philadelphia has emerged from free agency neck-and-neck with the Packers and Falcons in the NFC race to the Super Bowl. Read the rest of this entry »

The pickings are getting slim but we thought it was a good time to throw a list out there of the best available players left in free agency.

Most of the starters are off the board but there are some guys that could make a difference on teams come this September that are available to be had.  These guys I would consider low risk, high reward type players that you won’t have to break the bank on but could contribute to your team.  But your team better jump quickly if they want one of these remaining free agents.  I wrote this story yesterday at 3:00 p.m. ET and since then I have revised it for the deletions of Ronnie Brown, Ryan Harris, Aubrayo Franklin, Zach Miller, Tommie Harris, Gerald Sensabaugh, Ty Warren, and Carlos Rogers.  And now Marc Bulger has officially retired. 

Here’s our list of best available NFL free agents:

QB’s

Troy Smith, San Francisco 49ers

RB’s/FB’s

LeRon McClain, Baltimore Ravens

Lawrence Vickers, Cleveland Browns

Jason Snelling, Atlanta Falcons

Ricky Williams, Miami Dolphins

TE’s

Kevin Boss, New York Giants

WR’s

Steve Smith, New York Giants

Braylon Edwards, New York Jets

Malcom Floyd, San Diego Chargers

Derrick Mason, Baltimore Ravens Read the rest of this entry »