Category — NFL Rumors and Speculations

The Ravens and Ray Lewis apart? Not if team owner Steve Bisciotti can help it. “If he becomes a free agent next year, I think the Ravens would probably outbid other teams,” Bisciotti said. “We know Ray’s value more than the other teams. We know the leadership he brings to the team. We know the commitment and the effort he gives to winning.” The Ravens and Lewis have had disputes about extensions in the past, but with the defense’s collapses growing more frequent during the season and the offense’s continued apathetic play, it makes sense to keep an icon and leader like Lewis around.

If the Cowboys get a deal done, we’ll hear about it within the next few days. “It’s probable, if we’re going to get something done, we’ll do it while we’re here at these meetings,” Jerry Jones said. “…We’ve got some more talks we’ve got to do with the Titans, and we will do that while we’re here.” The meetings referred to by Jones are the owners’ annual meetings, when the league’s owners, general managers, and coaches meet in Florida to discuss changes in the NFL, so Jerry Jones (who’s clearly making the call on this one) can meet with the Tennessee Titans officials face-to-face to discuss Pacman. It seems likely the Cowboys will acquire Jones. They’ve shown serious interest in the Titans defensive back and since the Titans aren’t asking for a lot — a fourth round pick this year and a sixth round pick next year — the upside of Jones almost certainly outweighs the costs to acquire him.

The Packers are reportedly interested in acquiring Pacman Jones from the Tennessee Titans, who Jones has all but vowed he will never play for again. There are, of course, a few things wrong with this rumor. First and foremost, the Packers have two of the better corners in the AFC, Al Harris and Charles Woodson. Second, and just as important, general manager Ted Thompson rarely makes a significant free agent signing, nor does he make a controversial one. Of course, signing Pacman would fall under both categories.

The rumor does have a few things going for it, though. Both Harris and Woodson are in their 30s and the Packers may want to sign the uber-athletic Pacman Jones to be the team’s future. Harris also showed serious signs of decay last season, getting burned by good wide receivers and frustrating Packers fans.

Jon Ogden isn’t reporting to minicamp, but there’s still no word as to whether or not he’ll retire. But at least he’s made a timeline: next month, before the draft. “If I can’t play football the way I’m used to playing, then I’m not going to return,” Ogden, 33, said yesterday. “If I think I can, I want to give it a shot.” The loss of the future hall of fame tackle will be detrimental to the Baltimore Ravens, who have already struggled to establish themselves on offense. And it’s definitely not going to be good for new head coach John Harbaugh, who enters a system where former head coach Brian Billick was fired this season after years of failed attempts to build an offense.

Pacman Jones has made it clear that his days with the Tennessee Titans are over. At a charity basketball game this weekend, Pacman signed a ball with the number 21 — the number of former Dallas great Deion Sanders — instead of his own number, 32. But his agent is adamant in denying that any deal has been made, yet. “You would think the Titans would tell me they had traded him if they had,” agent Manny Arora said. Of course, a deal will likely be done soon to ensure Pacman does have the opportunity to wear number 21 next season.

The latest draft talk rumors have the New England Patriots considering Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, going so far as to fly the standout prospect to New England for an interview of sorts. Widely considered the most athletic player in the draft, and arguably the best prospect, McFadden has caught the attention of plenty of teams, but the Patriots are the most interesting.

It’s not because he’ll fit in well — which he likely will, with Bill Belichick making the calls — but because it begs the question, where will he fit in? Laurence Maroney was the team’s starter last season, but he missed plenty of time due to injuries. And while the Patriots managed to by without a running game (in fact, they tore opponents apart without a dominant runner), the team could clearly use a game-breaker like McFadden. McFadden could prove himself a worthy upgrade, but should the Patriots draft him and invest a massive signing bonus in a position already loaded with considerable depth and talent?

The past several seasons it’s been a question whether or not Tony Dungy will continue coaching. Dungy, someone who has never considered himself a football “lifer” and expected himself to be retired at age 50 (he’s currently 53), seriously pondered retirement after coaching the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl win last year. But after meeting with owner Jim Irsay and talking the entire situation through with his wife, Dungy decided to instead coach another season before re-evaluating the situation.

Rumors of his retirement heated up this week when it was learned that Dungy’s children have transferred schools from Indianapolis to the Tampa area.

The Colts, however, are doing whatever is necessary to sway Dungy’s decision towards continuing the legacy he has built in Indianapolis. Recent reports from ESPN indicate that the team has offered him “tremendous options” and “flexibility.”

With coaching vacancies around the NFL — Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, most notably — the hot name on everyone’s list is, once again, Pete Carroll. The current head coach of USC, arguably the hottest college football team in the nation, despite letdowns, always seems to be in talks this time of year as teams search for the next big NFL head coach.

The problem? Carroll is a god in Southern California. Perhaps the most widely recognized coach in college football, Carroll has built a legacy and put SoCal back on the map in a big way. Year in and out his teams enter the season ranked first in the nation and find themselves in the middle of a BCS Bowl.

According to reports from ESPN and now the AP, Bill Parcells is considering a position with the Atlanta Falcons which would basically give him the power to hire a new head coach for the Atlanta Falcons after Bobby Petrino walked out on the team last week. Parcells would likely be a fine candidate because of his experience and his network of resources is fairly widespread.

Interestingly, Parcells could, if he wanted, name himself the head coach. But given the nature of the team — its talent — it would be surprising if he did so. Besides, being let go by the Dallas Cowboys probably left a bitter taste in his mouth and, while coaching there, he didn’t appear to enjoy the work. At his age, rebuilding a team from scratch — which is about where the Falcons are at this point — may not be the best idea.

According to report in the New York Post, Eric Mangini was presented with opportunity after opportunity to clarify the quarterback situation in New York. Five times, in fact. But Man-genius (sure, I’ll still call him that) isn’t going to say.

“We’ve got to see where Kellen is in terms of the injury,” Mangini said. “I think Kellen has done a lot of good things and there’s a lot of things that he’s still growing into and learning about with experience.

“On the other side, I thought Chad did a really nice job in the role that he has, to have limited reps and come in and execute all the different things we asked him to execute. That to me is classic Chad.”