Back to the Rumor Mill

What kind of mony will Lavar Arrington demand? Can he play opposite Ware?

I think RAF said L A was more the 4-3 LB and not suited for our team, plus the “issues”. I for one am for signing him. I can remember when Coakley and nguyen were considered too small and not of the right “fit” for our D. Soo….

Arrigton paid 4 mill to get out of his deal, so he’ll be commanding big money, and I dont see him as a fit for dallas, great speed and has the size but he’s always and I mean always injured,bum knee, attitude problems and free lances far too much and I agree, better fit for the 4-3 and not the 3-4. He’s been overated since he came out of college.

Levar Arrington is a phenomenal athelete who happens to play LB. If he was coached well and took the coaching to heart….he has the athletic ability to play OLB in a 3-4 just fine. Didn’t Marvin Lewis employ the 3-4 some in Washington?

Levar gets criticism rightfully so for playing out of position and trying to overcome the system employed with his superior speed and strength. This guy is a beast.

However, I remember a player who was similarly labeled an attitude problem. He too was of similar size and speed……and went so far as to break out windows and urinate in a coaches car. Now that player was Charles Haley……and Levar has never had the kind of issues Haley carried when he came to Dallas.

Someteimes great players just need a home and a coach and a scheme that fits them. Also……Gibbs is an offensive coach remembered for the o lines, Riggins and Theisman. Sure he had Mann and Manley…….and Darryl Green but Parcells is a defensive minded coach. Remembered for Lawerence Taylor, Carl Banks, Harry Carsons, Leonard Marshal and Jim Burt. I think Levar might well give serious thought to playing for the Dallas Cowboys and I think Pasquolini a former Penn State LB might and current LB coach might be a good fit for him!!!

no way we go after arrington. he is not disciplined and would be a major problem. He doesn’t have an attitude problem he just can’t put the ability he has to proper use. Marvin Lewis was his coach for a while and basically said he is the most undiciplined player he has ever had. The skins defense was better when he wasn’t playing. Sure he makes headline type plays but you don’t see all the plays he gives up. Getting LaVar would be a major mistake!

For me, it comes down to comparitive prices between McGinnest and Lavar. I know Lavar will be more expensive, but how much more?

Assuming we aren’t going to spend our money on Bentely, I think Lavar could be the right fit for the right price.

I would rather take my chances with Lavar than TO.

If we signed Lavr, our LB core would be almost set, which would give us far more flexibility in the draft.

We could still draft Carpenter to play inside or we could trade down for the chance to pick up Gabe Watson.

Without Lavar, I doubt we can risk trading down because if you trade down, you may lose both Lawson and Carpenter. That would be a grave mistake (IMO).

McGinnest would make more sense if we also draft an OLB and possibly an ILB…..McGinnest would become an instant veteran leader…in the 3-4 and would be a better fit for Ware, James and company who need leadership more than they need athleticism. My point on Levar is can he decide to play in a more disciplined role? Probably. If he did so, he well could lead the league in sacks……and also have batted balls, ints, forced fumbles. He is like an Urlacher the best athelete on the field….if he decides to play with discipline he becomes an elite player in the league…….still that might be too big an if for JJ and BP who want to win now……McGinnest would be the answer for a win now and still draft for the future approach.
 

McGinnest would be a better fit for the Cowboys right now…..our leaders at LB next year could well be 2nd year Ware, and 4th year James. We could use a vet in the mix with them.

You know you could see lots of these guys just go for one year deals…..and go for the big single year payoff in an uncapped year……imagine if TO, Levar, Edge, and others are available to those teams that see themselves as a single player away from the bowl…a team like Carolina might well reward Edge with huge money for a single season…..once you let that genie out of the lamp…….i ain’t sure it ever goes back in and NFL will face major issues. Danny Boy will be Steinbrenner………the smarter owner and coaches will still go for a certain amount of money on a player…….the NE dynasty will be over as we know it…….but they well may have the coin to enter the new era strong.

It will be nuts.

I am tired of waiting for FA to begin……are they going to reschedule the draft too? lol

John B:

Lewis doesn’t use a 3-4 scheme and never has in the NFL. His scheme typically utilizes the SLB as a guy there to rush the passer and stop the run and usually he goes after former undersized college DE’s to play that spot (i.e. Peter Boulware and David Pollack)

Under Lewis, Arrington recorded 11 sacks.

I think what it comes down to is price. I really can’t imagine a rookie OLB being more disciplined and understanding the game better than Lavar right now. So the question comes down to price. If the Cowboys feel that his price tag fine enough that they could live with his “undisciplined” play, they’ll probably sign him.

No way on Arrington for me. Everyone says they would boycott if TO is signed, remember Arrington whining and causing a problem WHEN the redskins were in the playoffs? TO did his nonsense in the offseason for the most part, this guy screwed up team chemistry in the most important part of the season. He will be overpayed, he just payed 4 mill to get out of his contract, he will want alot more than that per season. McGinnest is heavier, a better fit in the 34, and cheaper and can teach our young kids. Get McGinnest and Carpenter and maybe a big backup ILB and our LB’s are set for the season. Give me those 2 over Arrington ANY day, I dont care how disciplined he plays. McGinnest has alot more experience, 3 rings, weighs 270 lbs.

In a full season, these are McGinest sack numbers: 5, 6, 6, 9, 10, 10, 11

Imagine that, Ware, Capenter, James as our starting LB’s, along with Canty, Fergunson, and Spears. With a good FS and backup NT, thats a top 3 D easily.

its funny. i live here in washington where they all think LaVar is a loss. All talent but can’t put it together. Everyone is looking at stats on the guy; sacks etc. To bad they don’t keep sacks on how many missed plays or assignments the guy makes. I’ve lived through all the stuff about LaVar here in DC. No coach here since he’s been here has gotten him under control. Yes, he had a bunch of sacks under Lewis, but he complained constantly about being on line. When Washington’s D was at its best this past year, he was on the sidelines. the skins DC isn’t a dummy, he had lavar on the sidelines for more than just attitude. At least TO would do the right thing on the field. LaVar would be a major waste of funds for any price. I don’t want him on my team!

McGinest is 35 going into his 14th year.

Arrington is 28 going into his 7th year.

Man, what is wrong with you guys. Lavar is a great player and I think we should pick him as soon as free ahency begin. Talking about he is undidcipline and all this crap, so what he is a free lancer, so was lawrence Taylor, all I know is when the guy sees the ball he is after it whether it be the QB or who ever. Thats what a linebacker is suppose to do, freelance and attack, attack, attack, get to the damn ball. two years ago offenses had to know exactly where Lavar was on the field, cus you know he is coming, and there is nothing stopping him (as Aikman. We have a chance to pick a key player from a rivalry team after what they did to us last year, and you guys are talking non-sense. This guy was dislike by the owner and coaches and therefore discriminated gainst him. Before this 6.5million dollar suit against snyder and before Gibbs I believe the Skins D were rated #1 in league one year, and it wasn’t all because Champ Bailey. Imagine the hatred he has for the Skins right now, and eager for the Boys to signed him so he release havoc on Brunell twice a year. Wouldn’t be ironic if he also anded Brunell’s career, lol. I mean just imagine ware, james, lavar and carpenter, and then you have Roy creeping up slowly, one by one by one. Man you can hear QB’s and RB’s hearts pumping through your tv (HD of course). Attitude or not, we need a guy with a nasty attitude, looking to take of heads. You need a Joey porter type, somebody just talking smack. Willie Mcginest? what is he going to do, the got oen more year and is a done deal. Lavar will bring the Beast that our defense need. Man imagine him with a dallas jersey helmet and that visor, man redskins fans will hate us more. IS PAYBACK LAVAR for the money they took from you, and the discrimination. Trust me no need for locker room speech, I think he’s good. Lets GO

Sign McGinest, draft a LB on the first day and he’ll tutor our whole LB corps. (Plus he can play DE in the nickel – not sure Lavar could). Use the $ saved by signing WM over Arrington and get a nice FS or OL in free agency

Every week, lavar would get into an arguement with Dale Lindsey, his position coach about missed assignments. You guys have been watching too many ESPN highlight reels. LaVar does make big plays but he give up far too many as well. here in DC, the skins are on every week, many times the only NFC game so i’ve seen him play a lot. he has a lot of talent but he just can’t or doesn’t want to play the right way.

What can McGinest do? He can do alot more than LaVar. All Arrington can do is rack up tackles. He cant stay healthy, why would you pay a guy big time money for a player that has played in 16 games in 2 years? McGinest has proven hes better than Arrington, age or not. He has experience in 3-4 defense. Arrington does not. McGinnest is a beast rushing the QB, Arrington is not. What else has Arrington done except for that one year with 11 sacks? Most redskins fans dont want him and Gibbs certiantly doesnt. Why would BP?

The Eagles are ready to sign Bently, Garcia, and Shawn Barber. THe Giants are looking into Pro Bowl CB Sam Madison. I think McGinest will be the first big name we sign.

No one here seems to know how much Lavar will actually cost. I don’t know either, but two observations come to mind.

First, the fact that Lavar paid $4M to get out of D.C. does not affect his market value. In fact, Lavar was going to have to restructure his salary to stay in D.C. anyway, so a portion of the $4M was already sunk.

Second, the same reasons for “not” signing him may also be the reasons that make him affordable. Risk always reduces a market price. If he is truly proven to be uncoachable, then it will be reflected in his market price?

I would be willing to pay more money for Lavar that McGinnest if the difference in price was comparitively reasonable.

All that said, I won’t lose any sleep over passing on Lavar.

But Bentely is a different story. It’s a mistake If we don’t at least try to sign Bentely.

I’ll throw this out there…

I estimate that Lavar will cost the same or close to the same as Julian Peterson.

I would rather buy Lavar than Peterson if I had to choose because Lavar’s superior size makes him a better fit for BP’s defense.

Please spare me the over 33 veteran players. We need leadership? we need leadership? I think we have enough veterans on the team, to bring in more. we need younger guys who still wants to play football, not old veterans hanging around to make a last dollar. All this speculation about Mcginest, at the end of the day he will still be a patriot. Like Mcginest have never blow an assignment, please if new englnad thinks he’s expandable because of roselvelt colvin, then we surely don’t need him. Why do we always get the left overs?

DemBoys,

I agree. Veteran leadership may be a positive, but is can be vastly overrated.

Wasn’t Riverra supposed to be the veteran leader on the online last year?

And the 92’ Cowboys were the youngest team in the league. They did ok.

All this debate about Arrington is interesting but I don’t think the cowboys will sign Arrington as long as the poston brothers are his agents. I recalled reading a story that the cowboys didn’t pick Merriman because he retained the Poston brothers as his agent right before the draft.

Arrington has stayed healthy. Outside of 2004, he’s only missed 3 games due to injury. And in 2004 from what I’ve gathered, Arrington and Gibbs had a disagreement on how his knee should be handled and it looks like Arrington was right.

I wouldn’t object to Arrington being on the team for a reasonable price. I think he actually fits in a 3-4 more than a Weakside 4-3 backer. I like McGinest, but how long he’ll last is a huge concern. By getting Lavar, if he develops reasonably well, they could focus on other areas like Tackle, Guard, Nose Guard, Free Safety, and Wide Receiver in the draft.

I’ve had enough of this undersized tlak from Julian Peterson… Right now he wieghs 235 pounds, does he has growing room? Yes, he has, he could easily add 10 pounds or near, that would make him a 6-3 and 245 pounds OLB. Do players function with that kind of size in the 3-4? Look around the league, Chaun Thompson was the best OLB in Cleveland, he’s 6-2 and 242. San Diego indeed has 3 mammoths at OLB (over 260 pounds), but the guy that began the season ahead of Merriman in the depth chart (Ben Leber) wasn’t (6-3 and 244). Ware started the season with 245 pounds. Roosevelt Colvin weighs 250 pounds. And the Steelers play with a 6-3 and 243 OLB in the Strong side (Haggans) and as far as I know people isn’t so fond of Haggans, well, know something he racked up 9 sacks this season, more than any Cowboy. And Porter also weighs 250 pounds.

So, stop saying that Peterson won’t be capable of playing OLB in the 3-4 because of his size.

As an extra, let’s compare Arrington’s and Peterson’s stats in the 6 seasons and 79 games they have played that both have in their resumes:

Peterson: 21.5 sacks, 394 tot. tckls, 5 Ints, 7 FF and 33 passes defended.

Arrington: 22.5s, 396tt, 3i, 10ff and 31pd.

Sound pretty equal to me if you aren’t taking into account freelancing and off the field troubles.

Count me in for Peterson (yeah, nothing new, I’m the only guy in this lonely wagon), but, if McGinnest indeed leaves NE, count me in for him and for drafting Kamerion Wimbley in the first round after a trade down.

McGinest is old as hell. Me i would take either Arrington or Peterson. What i would really like to have is Abraham. I think any of these guys will be a huge improvement from what we had last year. I wonder if we are going to bring back Fujita and what were going to do with Singleton. I think Singleton could be better as an ILB in our 3-4 than as an OLB. Plus Singleton could give us some time to find out what to do with Burnett. Then we definitely wouldn’t need a Veteran OLB (McGinest) because Singleton would fill that role. I really hope we draft Carpenter,Lawson,or Wimbley.

well said Chandus

Arrington missed five games this year and twelve games last year due to injury, I wouldn’t waste the money he wants on him, too many red flags and with his attitude, I think we can do better elsewhere.

McGinest is too old and to injured to be a viable option in my opinion, Peterson wasn’t the player he once was last year, maybe he was stll recovering from his achilles injury, but the history shows that players with that type of injury never get back to where they used to be. Can we really waste all that money on a player that may or may not work, I’m leaning to towards NO, especially with the deep class of linebackers in the draft this year.

Chandus,

I’m going to give you undersized flak because Parcells likes big guys. No offense, but whether we like it or not is irrelevant. He controls personnel.

Now, I’ve got another take. Let’s use Scott Fujita as a benchmark, since whomever Dallas signs will replace him. He’s played four seasons, so I’m going to rank these guys in sacks and passes defensed since 2002.

Fujita 11. 5 sacks; 6 passes def.;
Peterson 15.5 sacks; 22 passes def.;
Arrington 18 sacks; 21 passes def.;
McGinest 26.5 sacks; 19 passes def.;

And let me add that Arrington has ONE
sack the last two seasons. He missed a lot of 2004 with an injury, but that’s still pathetic.

Give me the old guy. McGinnest is the most durable and by far the most productive.

He’s also going to be the cheapest of the three.

Has McGinnest showed that he is slowing down? No. Not at all. The LB’s in the 3-4 get the sacks, and thats what McGinest brings. We can then get Carpenter who isnt an Arrington or Peterson type player now but in a year could be. I would rather spend that money on Chris Hope and Jerald Sowell. It will cost the same.

And Chandus, here’s McGinest past 6 years in comparison to your guys:

McGinest: 40 sacks, 334 tckls, 6 ff, 3 ints
Arrington: 22.5 sacks, 396 tt, 3 ints, 10 ff
Peterson: 21.5 sacks, 394 tt, 5 ints, 7 ff

Who has the best numbers? McGinest despite his age. Peterson and Arrington IMO would be better inside in a 3-4. McGinest is a true 3-4 OLB. Wheres our veterans at LB? Singelton is probably gone, so our average age will be like 25 years old. We need a vet here and McGinest is perfect.

Derrick, McGinest too injured? News to me. He’s only missed 2 games in the last 4 seasons. Plus if you get McGinest you still draft a young LB, probably Carpenter or Wimbley, who can become studs and would cost alot less.

I’m really on his bandwagon, those injuries scare me off and McGinest makes sense every way. Abraham would be nice too but hes too expensive too.

I like them all. Hell, I like Al Singleton. But I just think someone like McGinest (old?) reminds me of the Eddie george deal. Kinda spooky eh? Oh well, that’s why we aren’t making the deals and a bunch of millionaires are.
BTW ESPN says the deal will be done. Will be finalized w/ 24 votes on Tues. PT says the deal could take two or more days and predicts an ugly meeting

J-Man Two words for you brother: Sports Bar! I would rather visit my mother-in-law every Sunday than watch the ‘skins. I’m stationed in Kansas and will gladly deal with the smoke and stale beer smell to get my Cowboys fix. I sure feel for you brother!

HYPOCRITES!

I hear nothing but carping on signing a veteran RT, hearing nothing but cries of “we need to get younger”, “I’d rather have the young guy”…at a position that historically has the longest NFL tenure…and now THIS?

McGinest would be nice for a year or two…but please, be consistent

You cant compare Eddie George to McGinest, George the years before he signed with us had an average of 3.3, 3.6, 3.1. He did exactly the same thing with us, but McGinest has not slowed down so far. George was already on the downside and you could tell.

Rams sign La Roi Glover:

Great sign by them 3 years, they are getting a great player and I love he didnt go to the eagles. I wish him luck and he will be with Coakley, 2 of my favorites.

LOU I know, but it’s the fear of signing another big name who is getting older.

Mel has Justice going to Miami?

Fighter:
McGinest would make sense if someone like Carpenter, Lawson or Wimbley compliments him. That would be the young factor into the equation.

BTW, I’ve two thing against the signing of McGinest, first, he isn’t that good in coverage anymore and when in the other side you have a sophomore at the position that’s not the best combination, at least Peterson or Arrington, Peterson in particular, would be better in coverage. Like that Dallas would have a couple of OLBs like the ones that Pittsburgh has, Haggans good in coverage and good pressuring the QB and Porter being efficient in coverage and great pressuring.

The second, I don’t see NE letting him walk for the same reasons for which Dallas would want him, to mentor his successor.

That’s one hell of a signing for the Rams, he’s going to solidify their front line.

how can the rams sign glover if fre agency starts thursday.

I just saw That the Rams signed L’roi Glover to a three year deal,, How is this possilble before the actuall free agenct begins?

I am glad Glover didn’t sign with any team in our division.

This seems to be a lively discussion. I never realized that OLB would be the topic of such rancor. It wasn’t too long ago that there was a near consensus that Carpenter or a tweener would be all that was needed. A few of us were in favor of an ILB to replace Dat, but I recall that seemed to provoke a lot of criticism about whether Burnett should be the heir apparent.

It seems like in general the top priorities outside of Kicker are O-Line and Linebackers. We can put Kicker aside assuming that will definitely be addressed through FA. So that means it is a matter of how best to fill the spots at LB and O-Line. This is interesting, because they are suffering from quite different problems at the moment.

With the Linebackers they seemed to play very well at the beginning of the season. Better than I expected given the 3-4 switch. They shut down a lot of very good RB’s early on in the season(LT, Alexander, Portis 1st game, Barber 1st game), they were putting heat on QB’s in the pass rush…then the injuries to the veterans happened. After that the LB play started suffering, they couldn’t stop the run and the pass rush nearly disappeared. Fujita and James became the new veterans of the LB’s and neither of them had more than 4 years of experience. Luckily James rose to the challenge and had a breakout year, but he was pretty much the only LB that consistently played well. Ware isn’t going anywhere, he is a starter on this team and we all know this. Fujita played like a backup, IMHO. We got very little from the rest of the younger guys. This means to me that the team has sufficient young players in the front 7 already, and perhaps it would be better to put a little more veteran leadership in the LB corps to hopefully make it play more like the first part of last season and not the last 5-6 games or so.

So that’s the problem. Here’s the way I see a good solution:

A free agent that won’t break the bank might be the best solution here, at least for next season. Consider where Singleton should fit in or if at all. The more I think about it, I’d like to see a reasonably priced veteran OLB brought in and have Parcells move Singleton inside to play in between Ware and James. That provides enough experience on the field to balance out all the 2nd year guys, and hopefully Singleton can stop the run like he did a few years ago when he was OLB in the 4-3. If Singleton is let go, then obviously another LB will need to step up, but I think a veteran would be a good idea there too. If Burnett, Shanle, Fowler, or Thornton steps up like B-James that would be great, but if not then there will hopefully be a veteran who can hold it down.

The O-Line is a totally different story. NO ONE played well consistently on the O-Line last year, no matter what their age or level of experience. We have two aging money pits at both Guard spots, and neither of them seemed to be able to get it together for any length of time. Flo was on track for an average season before he got injured, which would have maybe been enough to hold off the total collapse that occurred after he got hurt, but still leaves a lot to be desired. AJ and Gurode I have already hashed out enough lately. I think the two telling comments about them came from Parcells himself when he said he was “Being held hostage by that position” and when he said that AJ had “completely maxed out his potential” with regard to size and strength. Ironically, RT is the only position I am willing to cut some slack because Pettiti was a rookie thrown into a terrible situation too soon, and obviously Rogers and Colombo have not yet had a chance to prove what they can do when healthy. This situation seems more dire to me because of the age and money already tied up in three of the veteran starters. I read recently that Rivera’s deal is getting reworked and some sort of paycut is likely. I assume Allen’s deal will at least be restructured. We have to hope that Flo returns healthy and plays better than he did pre-injury. We have to at least find out if we have anything in Colombo and Rogers, and if Pettiti can contribute when he’s not under so much pressure as a rookie. We still don’t know where or if Peterman fits it. Gurode played well against the Panthers at RG, but he sucked at Center and we don’t know for sure yet if he’ll even be back.

The solution here is not so easy, because the whole line sucked. If you don’t believe me, go back and re-read some of the posts everyone made on the open threads during the games.

The only solutions I can come to are:

If Rivera and LA are getting reworked, then the team has committed to keeping them for next season. I believe that means they will be starting barring injury or arriving to camp PUTP (like LA last year). Like it or not, that seems to be where the team has put too much of its resources, and that kind of investment is not going to be sitting on the bench unless Parcells has no other choice because of injury or ineptitude. If Flo can play, the same goes for him. That leaves two spots. RT and Center. There are enough veteran FA options at RT that I think one has to be brought in at least long enough to see where or if the trio of young guys fit in. I’m thinking Ashworth or Fabini here, although because of age and potential contract length, the choice will depend on Parcells faith that one or more of the three young guys will breakthrough. With Bentley not an option, and with no apparent interest in drafting Mangold, this looks like either Mawae or re-signing Gurode, keeping AJ at starter, and more “being held hostage”. If that is the case, I would opt for Mawae. If nothing else it would be an insurance policy against Parcells kicking himself for not fixing something he already stated was driving him nuts last season. Either way, draft picks at either OG (if Gurode is not retained and/or Peterman flames out), or OT (if they don’t want to sign an FA and lose faith in the other 3) seem likely.

Basically, I am far more optimistic about the LB’s, because compared to the mess and money traps on the O-Line it seems relatively easier to fix.

If any of the 3 high priced veterans on the O-Line can play up to their compensation level, we will be in much better shape there too. Big IF.

gunnerklein
where in kansas are you stationed at.

Gunner-for your sake I hope its not Wichita…Ha.

sean
Wichita isn’t that bad. I was stationed there just 3 years ago. The city is actually nice. Sean you in the service.

Sacks and passes defended do not a LB make…Ray Lewis has something like 20 sacks his whole career. 10 in the last 6 years.

On that topic. If we’re going old at LB, Ray is probably available for a 3rd rounder.

Sterling,

The Cowboys had a top-5 offense prior to Flo going down. Therefore, someone was doing well.

Flo is the #4 ranked OT by Scouts Inc.

LA made the Pro Bowl (and PLEASE do not use the excuse of playing off reputation…the man was the top OG vote getter).

AJ is serviceable.

Rivera struggled, but the only real weak link was Pettiti. With help, he was OK, but it really limited our TE production.

OL normally does not suffer injuries. I would fully expect 3/5th of our line to be fine. AJ, with a full offseason should get stronger.

We simply need a veteran RT and some draft picks to replace these guys in a year or two.

lilbeast-Grew up 30 miles from Wichita, Joined the Navy out of High School, came back to Wichita State, moved to TX as fast as I could. I’ll take this opportunity to bring up that both BP and Jimmy Johnson have ties to Wichita State (although they spell it Witchita on the DC website). Wichita is not bad, just kinda plain. And just to mention another little peeve of mine-the Chiefs are in Missouri not Kansas. It always irks me a little bit when someone says Kansas instead of KC. I think it is Chandus so he gets a pass until I learn Spanish.

I believe Arrington would become an excellent 3-4 LB. In fact, I believe he would be more productive in our system, than in the standard 4-3.

The issues, though, are his high cost, and his tendency to free lance (which scares the life out of me — he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer). He also has the Postons as his agents. That might preclude the Cowboys from even considering Arrington.

I’m going to try to stay neutral on this one. Although (again), I don’t want to make any move that would jeopardize our chances of upgrading at right tackle.

Sterling,

Just one comment.

I don’t recall Parcells ever saying that center ‘held the team hostage’ in 2005. A reporter asked him if that had ever happened, and Parcells replied that it had. But, if my memory has not failed me, Parcells denied that center was ‘holding the team hostage’ at present.

Actually, the only negative comments from Parcells I can recall about center, were concerning the center-quarterback exchange. Of course, it is not Parcells’ habit to blast his players to the press. He didn’t even do that with Petitti or Tucker. He might comment on a mistake a player made, but he rarely criticizes the overall play of any player.

Mr. Bill:

You are right. I should be more careful when I read this blog and Eatman:

http://blog.theboys.com/?p=536

Scroll down to the post in #7, I believed it was referring to 2005, when it wasn’t.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news.cfm?id=C2DE271A-DB6D-2EF4-E4C4D007A8B60268

Scroll down to number 5.

He said it in regard to the position a few years ago, not last season. So I should not have attributed it to 2005, my fault.

He did make the other remarks about AJ’s development though. While not being specifically negative, they aren’t too encouraging either. He also made another similar remark about playing Gurode for a particular game early in the season instead of AJ due to AJ’s lack of size. I don’t remember specifically which game, but it was toward the beginning of the year.

I actually think he would have preferred to play Gurode more and the fact that they both rotated heavily backs that up. The problem was Gurode had so many exchange problems, while AJ finally got that worked out with Bledsoe. Gurode never did seem to get the hang of that.

Sean:
Yeah, that was me, some time ago I heard that the Chiefs weren’t in Kansas anymore, but forgot, I guess they’re like the soon to be Arlington Cowboys, I mean, still Dallas Cowboys.

Just for those of you considering Arrington, I thought I’d post something I read on Fanball.com…

March 7, 2006 9:40 AM ET
Giants: Pierce pitching for Arrington
The News
Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce is aiming to bring an old teammate to the Big Apple. The former Redskin is lobbying for the team to sign LaVar Arrington. The three-time Pro Bowler became a free agent late Sunday night, and he told a radio station that he wants to stay in the NFC East but would prefer not to play for the Cowboys, the Newark Star-Ledger reported.

Our View
Arrington might also draw some interest from the Eagles if their linebacker, Jeremiah Trotter, also played with the Redskins. The Giants need to wait and see how the salary cap situation plays out before they could target Arrington, though.

To me, if that is true about him not wanting to play for Dallas, we need to stay as far away as possible. He would become a major headache just like he was with the Skins.

Bring on McGinnest!