[Note by Ed Valentine, 03/21/12 11:10 PM EDT: As you may know, Tebow to the Jets is now offficial.]
After the Peyton Manning signing Tuesday, a spiiral of NFL activity ensued today.
First, the NFL brought down a gigantic hammer on the New Orleans Saints, perhaps making an example of them for Bounty-gate and striking the fear of Roger Goodell in the other 31 teams.
Then the trade of Tim Tebow to the Jets was announced immediately afterward. But wait, there is talk that a glitch in Tebow's contract with Denver that may force the team he's being traded to to pony up some or all of the $5 million of "recapture" fees that may or may not be a sticking point in negotiations. ESPN's Adam Schefter says this could open the door for the Rams to re-enter the Tebow sweepstakes. That might ease the pain of the Rams essentially losing their newly signed defensive coordinator for, well, maybe forever.
And, oh by the way, the Eagles traded for Houston's stud middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans. As ESPN's Dan Graziano pointed out this morning in response to one of his readers who wondered aloud why another team wearing blue in the division couldn't make that same trade:
"Ryans is making $5.9 million this year. Second, the Giants got by just fine without a top-of-the-line middle linebacker last year, and they likely believe they can do so again. If they re-sign Jonathan Goff, as they're expected to do, and he's healthy, they believe he's more than good enough at that spot given their other strengths on defense."
Okay. And I guess that after all the splashy moves the Eagles made last year, the Giants are the team that had the last laugh, hoisting that Lombardi Trophy for the fourth time.
So let the Jets and Eagles and Broncos make all the headlines. I'm fine trusting Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin. To me, they have earned the benefit of not being constantly questioned about the roster.
And hey, when's the last time Goodell had to bring the hammer down on a Giants player?