In today's edition of Around the Pound, we take a look at trade rumors regarding one of the league's best cornerbacks, the new home of WR David Patten, Mike Holmgren's take on quarterbacks not showing up at the combine, and more.
Jets Interested in Nnamdi Asomugha
I like to credit myself for memorizing some of the more difficult names to spell in the NFL (such as T.J. Houshmandzadeh), but I still have a tough time any time I try to type out Asomugha. Thankfully for the CTRL+C and CTRL+V features, I won't have to worry about that too much here.
Anyway, rumors are circulating that the Oakland Raiders are willing to dump off pretty much any of their players now, including Asomugha if the deal is right. The issue is his contract, which makes it nearly impossible for him to be tradeable. The Jets are cited as a possible team that might be interested in him.
If Asomugha really wants to play with Revis and experience life under defensive savant Ryan -- and get out of Oakland while he's at it -- perhaps he'd be willing to restructure his deal to play for a team that's trying to, you know, win.
The possibility of Asomugha still seems remote because of his contract, but the fact the Raiders are dangling him around the league makes you wonder how nauseous AFC East quarterbacks will get at the mere thought of him and Revis in green and white together.
It is noted that Asomugha is scheduled to make $16.59 million guaranteed this season. I doubt the Raiders would be able to move him. In the remote chance that Asomugha did restructure his contract to play elsewhere, I'm sure it would be to a team that was a contender last season (which remove the Cleveland Browns out of the mix).
New Home is Old Home for David Patten
Late in his career, WR David Patten can only seem to catch on with his former teams. Last year it was with the Browns in training camp, and this year it looks like it'll be with the New England Patriots.
Since Patten was out of football in 2009, it would be a stretch to call him a lock for a roster spot. But this isn't one of those sign-and-retire type contracts. The Patriots saw enough of Patten in a workout to believe he could possibly help -- at the very least in offseason work.
With WR Wes Welker injured indefinitely, Patten might have a legitimate chance at making the Patriots' final roster.
Holmgren Disappointed in Quarterbacks
Quarterbacks don't want to disappoint team president Mike Holmgren. I'm not talking about Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson, but rather the quarterbacks at the combine who have decided to bypass the combine drills. Quarterbacks not participating include Colt McCoy, Jimmy Clausen, Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, and Dan LeFevour.
"I don't get [not throwing]. Someone has sold a bill of goods to some of these kids," Holmgren said.
"One thing I always told the quarterback was to throw at the combine. Participate. I always thought, at that position, it was a mistake [not to throw]. We know you're going with receivers you don't know. Very rarely do you get dinged [downgraded] on a combine thing. But it can help you."
Around the AFC North
As a new addition to Around the Pound, I'll try to include the best headlines from each of our three AFC North affiliate SB Nation websites:
- Baltimore Beatdown: Discussing the Thought of Trading Jared Gaither
- Behind the Steel Curtain: The Steelers Interested in LaDainian Tomlinson?
- Cincy Jungle: Why the Bengals Won't Draft a TE in the First Round
Off-Beat Notes
- The talent group on American Idol this year? Compared to the past, all I can say is "yikes." Not a single person had a performance that even came close to making me think, "this guy/gal is a frontrunner." If someone put an average performance on, it seemed like a brilliant performance compared to the other crap. The contestants better improve quickly, otherwise this will be the worst season talent-wise by far.
- LOST continued rolling with another great episode, especially the Claire/Jin/Smocke storyline. Hurley has been great too, and it's encouraging to see Jack's character evolving. For next week's previews, ABC didn't really show any clips, saying it'd be too big of a reveal. I'm expecting something big to happen again this Tuesday.
- Isn't it painful to watch the Olympics sometimes, especially when someone falls right at the start of their event? To the casual viewer, it might be easy to move on. But if you've waited four years for that one, crunch-time moment and you can't even get past the start to show your skill, that has to be extremely crushing.
- I loved Jackie Earle Haley's work in Watchmen and am currently enjoying his role in FOX's Human Target. Now I'm intrigued to see how he does as Freddy Krueger in the remake of the film series. Here is the trailer link: Nightmare on Elm Street (Remake)