I’ll Tell You This: Sports Rumor Mill – Dungy, Gruden, Quinn, and More!

In this week’s “I’ll Tell You This” I jump into the realm of the Sports Rumor Mill. Take a look and brew up some comments or rumors of your own!

1. Tony Dungy to Return to Coaching?

Recent rumors have placed Tony Dungy back at the helm of the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers as early as next season. Tampa Bay is 0-5, and has shown no signs of life this season, and its coach, Raheem Morris, is no doubt on the hot seat.

There seemingly will be a change in Tampa in the next couple of years, if not before.

I’ll Tell You This:

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NFL Preseason – Friday, September 3rd Betting Picks: Point Spreads and Predictions

NFL betting is finally back! We have one more week of preseason games on the schedule and thus one more opportunity to work our NFL prognosticating muscles back into shape. Let’s have a look at Friday’s games and make a few picks, shall we?

Houston Texans at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Friday, September 4, 7:00 p.m. ET

Favorite: Buccaneers -3

A good question to ask in preseason football is “What do these guys have to play for?” In Houston’s case, the answer is “not much.” All their offensive skill players are locked into their starting roles with little to no competition and the Texans will almost certainly sit their top guys to keep them fresh for NFL week 1 betting.

The Bucs, however, have a bit of motivation. After Byron Leftwich “won” the starting quarterback job, both Luke McCown and Josh Freeman will want to show that they’re the better choice to start at pivot. Running back Cadillac Williams is third on Tampa’s depth chart but there’s been talk of a committee and he could use Friday’s game to audition for a role in it. Pick the hungrier Bucs.

Betting services recommend: Buccaneers

Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings

Friday, September 4, 8:00 p.m. ET

Favorite: Vikings -3

The Cowboys’ situation is similar to Houston’s. Do you really think anyone will unseat Tony Romo, Marion Barber, Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware at their positions? Of course not. The star players have no threats to their jobs and won’t play, so the Cowboys will field a team of subs with little motivation to win. In addition to home field, the Vikings have a least a couple players with extra motivation. Sage Rosenfels wouldn’t mind lighting up the Cowboys to show up Brett Favre, the man who stole his job. Meanwhile, super backup running back Chester Taylor could earn himself a bigger role in the offense if he impresses. Bet on Minnesota.

Betting services recommend: Vikings

San Francisco 49ers @ San Diego Chargers (-3.5)

Friday, September 4, 10:00 p.m. ET

Forget drinkin’ the Kool-Aid; everyone’s drinkin’ the coffee – Glen Coffee – this preseason. The explosive back leads the NFL in rushing over the first three weeks and should see extensive time Friday filling in for starter Frank Gore. The Chargers have little to prove and their second-string skill players are nothing special, so the 49ers could surprise and outscore the home team. Take a flier on San Fran in your NFL picks.

Betting services recommend: 49ers

A Look at the Kellen Winslow Trade From the Perspective of K2 and the Browns

The Browns stuck with their 2004 Number One draft pick Kellen Winslow Jr. after losing his entire rookie year to a broken leg on the football field, after suffering injuries from flipping over a motorcycle, and even after confronting former General Manager Phil Savage last season for disguising Winslow’s staph infection as an “undisclosed illness”.

However, the Winslow era has ended today with the announcement of the high-profile player’s trade to Tampa Bay for undisclosed draft picks. I will miss Winslow’s intensity, his passion for the game, his toughness to play through injuries, and his ability to catch passes amidst defenders ready to lay him out. I will also miss his leadership qualities, his calm in the midst of storms, and his tears of joy while describing sweet wins in Cleveland. Number 80, a fan favorite, will be missed.

However, Winslow is probably more than satisfied with the trade. He will not only get to practice and play in the warm climates of Florida, but he won’t have to suffer through the aches and pains of being tackled on the frozen tundra of Cleveland Browns Stadium, or fight off frost bite from the whipping winds coming off of Lake Erie.

In one way, it is not surprising Browns Head Coach Eric Mangini pulled the trigger on the trade. After the Shaun Rogers fiasco, Mangini is probably ridding the team of another outspoken leader. Winslow has proven his fearlessness in taking on a general manager – much less a new head coach. Mangini knows that with Winslow gone, there is one less malcontent in the locker room. The Winslow trade takes Mangini closer to controlling the team, to making the Browns march in lockstep with him. General Manager George Kokinis said in a prepared statement, “…the draft picks we obtained through this deal will give us greater flexibility as we look to infuse more talent and create competition and depth on this football team.”

Before the trade, the Browns were without picks in the third, fifth and seventh rounds, reported Tony Gross of The Plain Dealer. Winslow and the Browns had numerous differences in their five seasons together. In only his second game as a pro, Winslow broke his leg and dislocated an ankle while trying to recover an onside kick. He missed the remainder of his rookie season. The following May, Winslow was practicing tricks on a high-powered motorcycle and suffered severe injuries to his right knee. Later, a staph infection set in after one surgery and resulted in complications that plague him to this day.

Winslow has had a surgical procedure on the knee every year since. Last season, Winslow sparred with Savage over issues related to an “undisclosed illness” that caused Winslow to be hospitalized. Winslow later said he was hospitalized for another staph infection and blasted the club for trying to keep it secret. The Browns initially suspended Winslow for one game, but then rescinded the suspension after lawyers got involved and Winslow’s PR representative disclosed emails from a club employee, reminding Winslow not to talk to the press. Savage was fired after the season. The club employee left recently after receiving a 30-day notice of a layoff.

And now Winslow is gone.

Who will be next?

Trade Winds Blow at Combine: Will, and Should, the Browns Trade Derek Anderson?

The latest and most significant Cleveland Browns rumor coming out of the scouting combine in Indianapolis is the possibility that the Browns could trade quarterback Derek Anderson to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for as little as a 3rd round pick.

If the season were to start today, the Buccaneers would most likely be taking the field with Luke McCown under center, a new head coach roaming the sidelines in Raheem Morris. And while Luke McCown has a few physical tools, it does not take a genius to figure out that the Bucs are looking to upgrade at that position this offseason.

A report yesterday in the Bucs Report at TBO.com by Roy Cummings says that the possibility of a Derek Anderson-to-the-Bucs trade is very real; and that Anderson apparently can be had for as little as a third round pick:

Anderson has one of the strongest arms in the league as well as just about every physical tool you need to be a difference maker at his position. What he doesn’t have is a great understanding of defenses or the game’s nuances.

With a little work and a bit of a push he could be developed into one of the game’s better quarterbacks and word is the Brown might take as little as a third-round pick for him.

When you consider that he’s younger than Luke McCown but has more experience than McCown it doesn’t sound like a bad option for the Bucs to consider, especially with Jeff Jagodzinski running the offense.

Sounds like a pretty good and accurate assessment of Anderson: great physically, lost mentally. One of my first thoughts when Eric Mangini took over the team was that Derek Anderson just is not going to be a good fit. Mangini seems like a very cerebral coach who would want his quarterback to share the same advantage that Mangini must exploit for success: intelligence. And while Brady Quinn is not anywhere near a Peyton Manning-level understanding of the game, the nuances of football seem to come easier for him and he has better instincts that the oft-plodding and perpetually confounded Anderson.

From Anderson’s perspective, this would probably be a great move. Browns fans have soured on him quickly after the surprise Pro Bowl appearance in 2007. Derek Anderson could lead the team to the playoffs, cure cancer, and discover an elixer that would allow Jim Brown to reverse age back to his 50s and 60s self…and Browns fans would still clamor for Brady Quinn to be the starter. In Tampa Bay, Derek would only have to beat out Luke McCown and would have a chance to grow with a new coach in a new system. If I’m Derek Anderson, I’m having my agent stay on this one and help push it along however possible.

From the Browns’ perspective, the obvious first thought is: a third round pick for Anderson? I guess it makes perfect sense after last season’s debacle; it is just obviously disappointing considering how high D.A.’s value was after 2007. But such is the NFL. We rolled the dice on having two above-average quarterbacks heading into 2008 and realized that all we had was wishful thinking and a still-muddled QB picture. Does anyone have 100% confidence in our QB situation heading into next season? Hardly.

Either way, the Browns should certainly look into getting what they can for Derek Anderson. The team claimed Anderson off waivers from Baltimore and, assuming the hypothetical that they can trade him, would have turned a waiver claim into 18 starts, one magical run to the doorstep of the playoffs, 34 TDs, and a 3rd round draft pick in return. All in all, that’s not too shabby.

At the end of the day, if you think you’ve seen the best that Derek Anderson can offer (and I think 2007 was exactly that), you might as well cash in now while there is a buyer in need and add another draft pick to improve other areas of the team.

Then we could just get on with the Brady Quinn era and see if it will be a two-year disappointment (that makes us all what to skydive without a parachute) or a ten-year run of success. I love the Browns and I think they have a chance to rebound in a big way next season, but a lot of it will be up to Brady Quinn — who still has plenty to prove.

What do you think?

Should the Browns get what they can in a trade for Derek Anderson and move forward with Brady Quinn as the QB?

• No -- they should keep Anderson, but as the clear backup
• No -- and Anderson should compete for the starting job
• No -- and Anderson should clearly be the starter over Quinn
• Yes

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Chicago Bears: Lose Home Opener to Tampa Bay

by Sean Kane

Well, it was interesting to watch two almost identical teams face off in Soldier Field today at 12 pm Central Time. Both the Bucs and the Bears sit at 1-1. Both the Bucs and the Bears have showed some potential but nothing stunning. Both the Bears and the Bucs will be lucky to make the playoffs this year. Both the Bucs and Bears are teams with tough defenses that are required to play well in order to win. Both the Bucs and Bears have the same man under center, more or less.

Brian Griese and Kyle Orton are basically the same guy: Big Ten QBs that because of being inconsistently not bad at managing games are still in position to start games. Having worked together last year in the Chicago, it’s clear that Griese rubbed off on Orton letting him know that with one decently managed drive, you can hold a job in Chicago. Then, even when they’re done with you, you can get picked up by somebody else whose front office isn’t trying to make constructive moves under center.

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