Wheels and Deals

What a month this March has been! From the Bucs' signing of Jeff Garcia to the returning of Fred Smoot to the Redskins, there has not been a crazier month this year.

In the NFL, there has been a flurry of offseason signings and trades up to this point. On March 1st, WR's Antonio Bryant, Drew Bennett, Joe Horn and Keenan Mcardell were cut by their teams. Two of four have found new teams - Horn signing with the Falcons and Bennett signing with the Rams. On that same day there was a blockbuster trade between the Lions and the Broncos, with CB Dre' Bly ditching the Lions to head to Denver to be paired up with the best CB in the league - Champ Bailey, an ex-Redskin, for starting RB Tatum Bell. Other deals that were made this month include CB Nate Clements heading from Buffalo to San Francisco, MLB London Fletcher-Baker leaving the Bills to sign with the Redskins, CB Fred Smoot heading back to the Redskins, TE Vishante Shancoe signing with the Vikings, QB Jeff Garcia signing with the Bucs... this list could go on forever...

QB's
Jeff Garcia --> Buccaneers
Brad Johnson --> Cowboys
Patrick Ramsey --> Broncos
Matt Schuab --> Texans
Kelley Holcomb --> Eagles

RB's
Tatum Bell --> Lions
Travis Henry --> Broncos
Thomas Jones --> Jets
Dominic Rhodes --> Raiders
Willis McGahee --> Ravens
Jamal Lewis --> Browns
Ahman Green --> Texans
T.J. Duckett --> Lions
Reuben Droughns --> Giants

WR's
Drew Bennett --> Rams
Joe Horn --> Falcons
Kelley Washington --> Patriots
Donte' Stallworth --> Patriots
Wes Welker --> Patriots
Brandon Stokely --> Broncos
Dennis Northcutt --> Jaguars
Shaun McDonald --> Lions
Bobby Wade --> Vikings
Bethel Johnson --> Eagles
Kevin Curtis --> Eagles
Ashlie Lelie --> 49ers
Bobby Wade --> Vikings

TE's
Daniel Graham --> Broncos
Jermaine Wiggins --> Jaguars
Kyle Brady --> Patriots
Vishante Shiancoe --> Vikings
Marcus Pollard --> Seahawks
Randy McMichael --> Rams

OL (Offensive Line)
Derrick Dockery --> Bills
Seth Mckinney --> Browns
Tony Pashos --> Jaguars
Leonard Davis --> Cowboys
Edwin Mulitado --> Ravens
Luke Pettigout --> Buccaneers

DT's/DE's
Darwin Walker --> Bills
Montae Reagor --> Eagles
Patrick Kerney --> Seahawks

LB's
Shawn Barber --> Texans
Donnie Edwards --> Chiefs
Napoleon Harris --> Chiefs
Joey Porter --> Dolphins
Adalius Thomas --> Patriots
Brian Simmons --> Bengals
Kawika Mitchell --> Giants
Takeo Spikes --> Eagles
Cato June --> Buccaneers
London Fletcher-Baker --> Redskins

DB's
Kenny Wright --> Browns

S's
Terrance Holt --> Cardinals
Michael Lewis --> 49ers
Deon Grant --> Seahawks

CB's
Dre' Bly --> Broncos
Nick Harper --> Titans
Roderick Hood -- > Cardinals
Travis Fisher --> Lions
Nate Clements --> 49ers
Mike Rumph --> Rams
Fred Smoot --> Redskins

Raid of the Running Back

Over the past couple of months, there have been loads of wheelings and dealings with running backs. About a quarter of all the NFL teams have new starting running backs, whether the teams got them from trade or from the free agent market.

The off-season overhaul of halfbacks started with the trade of RB Tatum Bell and two reserve players from the Denver Broncos to the Detroit Lions for the acquisition of cornerback Dre Bly. Now that Denver did not have a RB, they quickly signed ex-Tennessee Titan Travis Henry, who was unexpectedly cut by his former team. The Chicago Bears, coming off their Super Bowl loss to the Indianapolis Colts, dealt starting RB Thomas Jones and their second-round draft pick this year for the New York Jets second round pick and the seventh round pick in this April’s NFL draft. The New York Giants, on the other hand, just lost Tiki Barber to retirement, so they had a huge gap to fill at halfback. They acquired Reuben Droughns from the Cleveland Browns, who let Droughns be expendable after signing ex-Raven RB Jamal Lewis to a one-year deal. Since the Baltimore Ravens had no RB at the time, they traded three draft picks, two third round picks and one seventh round pick, to the Buffalo Bills for unhappy halfback Willis McGahee. Also, the Green Bay Packers lost Ahman Green to free agency, for he signed with the Houston Texans. Just recently, the Detroit Lions signed ex-Falcon and Redskin and free-agent T.J. Duckett.

Here are the projected running backs for the 2008 NFL season:

(Those in bold are off-season acquisitions and those italicized are backup RB’s becoming starters in 2008)

NFC

NFC East
New York Giants: Reuben Droughns
Philadelphia Eagles: Brian Westbrook
Dallas Cowboys: Marion Barber III
Washington Redskins: Clinton Portis / Ladell Betts

NFC North
Chicago Bears: Cedric Benson
Green Bay Packers: Not Known Yet
Minnesota Vikings: Chester Taylor
Detroit Lions: Tatum Bell / Kevin Jones

NFC South
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Cadillac Williams
Carolina Panthers: DeShaun Foster
Atlanta Falcons: Warrick Dunn
New Orleans Saints: Reggie Bush / Deuce McAllister

NFC West
Seattle Seahawks: Shaun Alexander
St. Louis Rams: Stephen Jackson
San Francisco 49ers: Frank Gore
Arizona Cardinals: Edgerrin James

AFC

AFC East
New England Patriots: Laurence Maroney
Buffalo Bills: Anthony Thomas
New York Jets: Thomas Jones
Miami Dolphins: Ronnie Brown

AFC North
Baltimore Ravens: Willis McGahee
Cleveland Browns: Jamal Lewis
Cincinnati Bengals: Rudi Johnson
Pittsburgh Steelers: Willie Parker

AFC South
Indianapolis Colts: Joseph Addai
Tennessee Titans: Not Known Yet
Jacksonville Jaguars: Maurice Jones-Drew
Houston Texans: Ahman Green

AFC West
San Diego Chargers: LaDainian Tomlinson
Kansas City Chiefs: Larry Johnson
Denver Broncos: Travis Henry
Oakland Raiders: LaMont Jordan / Dominic Rhodes

What a year it would be for halfbacks in the NFL!

By the way, the video I found on YouTube is a bit random, but AMAZING!!!! : )