Football Tickets

ONE STEP BACK TO GO 10 STEPS FORWARD?

The expectations for "big" Ben Roethlisberger as he heads into his second NFL season are very high to say the least. Football tickets are on sale now. I know he's more comfortable in the offense and can make quicker decisions, and the addition of tight end Heath Miller is just what the doctor ordered for a young quarterback trying to take the next step off a 15-1 season. But don't under estimate the 31 defensive coordinators in the NFL that will pool their resources to slow Roethlisberger down.

Remember when the Rams offense -- known as The Greatest Show on Turf -- was portrayed as unstoppable? Bill Belichick and the Patriots defense broke that code in Super Bowl XXXVI and the same crowd may have initiated a plan for Roethlisberger.

I remember when Brett Favre finished his first season as a starter completing 64.1 percent of his passes and throwing 18 touchdowns to just 13 interceptions. We all knew he would be great one day, but his second season finished up with 60.9 percent passing with 19 touchdowns and 24 interceptions. Roethlisberger just wrapped up a rookie season with a 66.4 percent completion rate, 17 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions, which is very similar to Favre's first season starting. I believe the Steelers quarterback is on the road to a great career, but a slight setback in his second year would be understandable.

TIME TO USE A CREDIT CARD

Most NFL executives I have spoken with believe about 10 solid football players will get released now that the signing bonus will not count against the 2005 salary cap. Any player cut after June 1 has a credit-card effect on the salary cap and the June 1 date was set to help teams tight against the top of the cap to push off cap issues for a year. The old saying "out of sight, out of mind" is appropriate when discussing June 1 cuts.

For example, Kurt Warner played for the Giants in 2004 and has already been announced as the 2005 starter for the Arizona Cardinals, but since he was released by St. Louis on June 1 last spring, he still hits the Rams salary cap for $6.7 million this year. Eddie George left the Titans last July, played for the Cowboys in 2004 and still may return to the Titans, but he already counts for $4.1 million on the Tennessee cap for 2005.

THREE NEW COACHES TAKING A SIMILAR APPROACH

Romeo Crennel (Browns), Nick Saban (Dolphins) and Mike Nolan (49ers) all seem to be following a similar business model in their first go-around as head coaches. Going back to the first days of the 2005 fiscal year and looking at the roster of these teams in salary-cap charge order, you realize the Browns have dumped players Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9 in terms of highest salary-cap charges. The Dolphins have removed Nos. 1, 2, 8 and 10 and the 49ers appear to be getting ready to dump salary-cap charge No. 4.

By the start of the season, all three coaches may have new quarterbacks under center, a conversion from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 and close to 10 new starters on the field. There are a lot of new faces putting on the uniforms of the Browns, Dolphins and, to a lesser extent, 49ers.

WHY WAIT TO SIGN A FIRST-ROUND DEAL?

Jason Babin benefited from signing early with the Texans. As I reviewed the 2004 first-round signings, a couple of things jumped out at me. One first-round rookie signed his deal in June, 18 signed in July and 13 waited until August to ink their first big NFL contract. What was interesting about the June signing of Jason Babin by the Houston Texans was that Babin arguably got a better deal in average money per year than two players above him, a better signing bonus than even more players above him, and a better first-year salary than 23 first rounders, which is more impressive when you consider he was drafted at the 27th spot.

Maybe more players have to worry less about holding out for more money and grab the best deal they can as early as they can.

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? The Detroit Lions are left scratching their heads once again as former 2002 second-round pick Kalimba Edwards got himself in legal troubles. The world isn't fair, but when a young man has 13 sacks in three years, only four starts in the 47 games he was active, and just 74 tackles in those 47 games, it doesn't seem like a good time to give your team a reason to look at your job security.

THESE TEAMS DIDN'T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL JUNE 1

I'm not sure what the Dolphins, Redskins and Bengals were thinking by waiting until June 1 to possibly release certain players. Whatever cap relief these teams would receive from the departures of defensive end David Bowens (Miami), wide receiver Rod Gardner (Washington) or Peter Warrick (Cincinnati) could have been achieved by releasing them earlier in the year because none of the trio has a prorated signing bonus to accelerate.

Just maybe they were hoping to trade these players and now face the reality that that probably will not happen.