49ers lock up Patrick Willis with some creative accounting

There's no doubt that San Francisco 49ers middle linebacker Patrick Willis(notes) is one of the best players at his position in the NFL. Since being picked with the 11th overall selection in the 2007 draft, Willis has transcended what was an initially porous defense, become its on-field leader and helped it become an effective (if underrated) unit. And since Willis' five-year, $16.7 million rookie contract had just one year remaining, it was time for the Niners to fill out an already exceptional offseason by signing their best player to a new deal.

There was only one problem with the compensation -- while Willis deserved to be paid as the star he has become, there's a kink in the NFL's post-CBA landscape called the 30-percent rule. This rule, which kicked in once the NFL went to an uncapped year, states that no renegotiation or extension of a current contract may increase a player's base salary by more than 30 percent. But as Marvin Miller eventually did in defeating the reserve clause in baseball, 49ers chief negotiator Paraag Marathe (one of the new wave of "Moneyball" guys) clearly saw the rule as a series of one-year agreements as opposed to an extending base. Thus, the team could increase Willis' base salary and further fund the new contract by giving him two different signing bonuses.

According to Pro Football Talk, Willis received a first signing bonus of $15.5 million as part of a five-year, $50 million extension (basically, a seven-year, $53.3 million contract). Then, the team got creative by giving Willis a second signing bonus of $4.8 million in 2011. And as PFT's Mike Florio indicated, the second signing bonus is put on a perch with an injury-only guarantee -- this means that the team isn't stuck with funding the payment now.

Contract details aren't generally among the most exciting things in any sport, but in a modern NFL where the new rules are often used to limit players from making what they deserve and fulfilling their financial potential, it's good to see one team using a real knowledge of the situation to lock up a franchise cornerstone. The player is happy, the team is happy, and Roger Goodell is probably annoyed that someone in the NFL is smarter than him. What more could we ask for?

Related: San Francisco 49ers

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Man behaving badly: SI details lewd, crude Roethlisberger

If Ben Roethlisberger's(notes) reputation wasn't shot before, it will be now.

In a much-hyped cover story that hits newsstands Wednesday, Sports Illustrated details the lewd, rude and classless behavior of the much-maligned Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. Jack McCallum's article could probably be defined as a hit piece, but it's an entirely fair one. If half of the stuff in the story is true, then Roethlisberger is even scummier than imagined.

The story starts with McCallum telling the tale of a Steeler-loving, heavily tattooed bus driver who is considering putting a red line through the Roethlisberger tattooo which covers his left bicep. It gets a lot worse.

Other highlights include:

• A post-accident Roethlisberger getting videotaped riding on his motorcycle without a helmet and flipping off the camera.

• Roethlisberger pulling the "do you know who I am?" routine with various people.

• Big Ben's nickname for what he wanted to have happen in the bathroom that night in Georgia. (It invokes the name of the president who served before George W. Bush.)

• Classy comments he made to various women, including a pregnant waitress at T.G.I. Friday's.

• Walking out on bar tabs (despite, you know, the $102 million contract).

Go read the whole thing.

It's a fairly reported piece, but there are plenty of bits of information from sources with definite reasons to have an agenda. (What group of underage girls at a bar tells anyone they're not 21?) Defenders of Ben could say that some of the unnamed people quoted in the story could be kicking a man when he's down. However, that would assume that after reading this story, there'll be any people left to defend Ben Roethlisberger.

Related: Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

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NFL Saints, RG Evans agree on 7 years, $57M Tebow jersey NFL's best seller for April Niners extend Willis for 5 years, $50M Ruling on Williamses case comes Thursday Vikings stadium bill suffers setbacks Ex-Miami WR McDuffie wins $11.5M in suit Ex-DE Martin elected CEO of NFL Alumni Pacman gets second workout with Bengals Sayers criticizes Bears' Smith, Cutler Bud Light NFL beer sponsor in $1B deal More NFL News 287 Comments Post a Comment

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Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Preview

Search for:Recent PostsMetal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Preview Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands New Releases for the Week Satisfashion 3D Dot Game Heroes Review Recent Commentsnathan on Get Free Microsoft Points and Xbox Live AccountsGames PS3 on Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sandsash on Guide to Free Microsoft Pointsrussboy on Get Free Microsoft Points and Xbox Live Accounts13yearold voice cracking on “Xbox Live is Too Dirty For Kids”BlogrollLTN GamersMake Money OnlineMicrosoft PointsMost Popular PostMetal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PreviewMay 3, 2010 — ltnchica

Coming out soon for the Sony PlayStation Portable is the game that is known as Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The date at which this game is going to become available to you is on June 8th of this year. In this action game, that has been published by Konami, you need to try to keep the peace throughout the nation without the help of a military.

The following is a preview which has been given to the game:

“I have gotten into the habit of walking into game previews completely blind as of late. Call it tunnel vision, call it too much attention to games when they’re done and sent to me with a shiny plastic case, but I have not been keeping up with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker as much as my compatriots, and only made slight headway through the downloadable demo. But that did not stop me from attending Konami’s Peace Walker themed “Boot Camp” a few weeks back in San Francisco. Boy, was I in for a surprise.”

Make sure to check out this game again when the release dates is nearer.

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Celebrating the really, really long career of Jeff Feagles

New York Giants punter Jeff Feagles has a news conference scheduled for tomorrow. At that conference, he's expected to announce his retirement from the National Football League.

Punter retirements normally aren't terribly significant events in NFL history, but Feagles is a walking football history archive. He's kind of like football's Andy Rooney. He's been around for just about everything.

So, with his retirement pending, let's mark the occasion with the following fun FeaglesFacts:

• In 1988, Feagles' rookie year, John Stephens was the Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Eric McMillan was the Defensive Rookie of the Year. They both retired 17 years ago.

• Feagles holds the following NFL career records: Most consecutive games played, most punts, most punts placed inside the 20-yard-line, most punting yards and most games played.

• Feagles was the last remaining player in the NFL who was in "Tecmo Super Bowl."

• Feagles was also the last remaining player who was active during the Reagan administration.

• In his career, Feagles was 0-for-8 as a passer, and finished with 19 carries for -11 yards.

• On September 4th, 1988, the day Feagles kicked his first punt in the NFL, the number one song in the United Stats was "Monkey," by George Michael. Gas was $1.08 a gallon.

• People who were not yet born when Feagles' first kicked in the NFL include Kevin Durant, Taylor Swift, Patrick Kane and Chris Brown.

• As Feagles hit his first punt in the NFL, the nation was falling in love with The California Raisins, a claymation marketing campaign for the California Raisin Advisory Board.

Enjoy retirement, sir. The world of punting owes you a debt of gratitude.

Related: New York Giants, Back in the Day

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Pacman Jones has all the partying out of his system

Despite some tepid interest from the Lions a few weeks ago, Pacman Jones remains unemployed and extremely available.

He's so available, in fact, that he's not afraid to text Lions head coach Jim Schwartz and remind him of that fact. From Nicholas J. Cotsonika at the Detroit Free Press:

"I texted him and just told him that I’m still available, I like what they did in the draft," Jones said today in a telephone interview. "It was just a simple text message. And he was like, 'Thanks. Keep your head up and keep the faith.' We left it at that."

I don't know if Pacman should like Detroit's draft too much. After all, they spent a third-rounder on a cornerback, Amari Spievey out of Iowa. Every cornerback on the Detroit roster puts Pacman one step closer to remaining unemployed.

What does he think, that the Lions will want him to come in and tutor the rookie? That he can be of value to the Lions as Spievey's wise old mentor? He might get back into the league, but I don't think he's quite at the "mentor" stage yet.

Anyway, Pacman also addressed the chief reason why he doesn't have a job yet: the omni-present character questions. He assures us that he's past that part of his life.

"I don’t do the things that I used to do," Jones said. "I don’t hang out with the crowd that I used to. I’m a grown man now. I have a little girl. I have a fiancée with another baby on the way. So them days are over with, the kid days. It’s about my family now."

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Walter Jones, Seattle's nine-time Pro Bowl tackle, retires

Thursday, the greatest player in Seattle Seahawks history -- and the last tie to the amazing tackle classes of the late 1990s -- retired from the game. Walter Jones, the nine-time Pro Bowler and four-time First-Team All-Pro announced that he can no longer play the game he's graced since 1997. Various injuries prevented Jones from playing at all in the 2009 season, and with the selection of Oklahoma State tackle Russell Okung with the sixth overall pick, there was also the quick draft weekend announcement from Seattle GM John Schneider that a statement would be made in the following days about Jones' future. Now, we know what we previously suspected.

Having watched Jones since his early days, when he came to the NFL about the same time as Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden, I'll remember him as the player who forged my interest in offensive line play. I will especially remember his week-to-week play in the Seahawks' 2005 season, when he nearly guided his formerly moribund team to a Lombardi Trophy with a series of superhuman performances. If you can find a video clip of Jones taking Carolina Panthers defensive end Mike Rucker and riding him back about 15 yards on a Shaun Alexander run in the NFC Championship game at the same speed Alexander was running ... well, it was the damnedest play I'd ever seen. (Update: In this official tribute video released by the Seahawks, the Rucker block is three minutes in). In my opinion, Alexander was a miscast MVP that season -- Jones was by far the best player in the NFL in 2005, and the award should have been his. As perhaps the one 9,000-plus-yard rusher more dependent on great line play than any other, Alexander would certainly agree.

But the unheralded nature of his position suited Walter Jones -- he's always been a gentle giant who laughed at pain (a kidney condition prevents him from taking any painkiller stronger than Tylenol) and shrugged off the conga line of defenders who wanted to make their bones by taking the big man down. I'll never forget what he did to Falcons end Patrick Kerney in the second game of the 2005 season. Kerney was a Pro Bowler coming off a 13-sack season, one of the most dynamic pass rushers in the game. By the second quarter of his "battle" against Big Walt, Kerney was a spent, wheezing mess. He was one of many elite defenders to receive a lesson in advanced protection concepts from this graceful and humble technician.

Perhaps former Seahawks and current Colts line coach Howard Mudd, who pushed for Jones to be drafted by Seattle with the sixth overall pick in 1997, said it best when he reflected on Jones' legacy:

"He had this phenomenal athleticism. Walt is the kind of guy who does things so easily, it almost looks like he's playing at 75 or 80 percent. Like Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, he never really struggles to get his job done, even when he's playing against the top NFL players. I don't think he ever lined up in a game where he thought he was closely matched, athletically, to the guy across from him."

Once the announcement is made, and he says a few perfunctory words, Jones will probably go back to his hometown of Aliceville, Alabama, where he used to push Escalades as a form of off-season conditioning and start the countdown to Canton. But the city of Seattle will always remember him.

It was once said of Jim Brown that there are many superstars but only one Superman. It was my good fortune to watch Walter Jones ply his trade for over a decade -- and to understand, for a time, what Superman actually looked like.

Related: Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks

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Al Davis apparently clinging to his faith in JaMarcus Russell

Despite the report a couple of days ago that the Raiders were about to release JaMarcus Russell, it hasn't happened yet.

I'll give you one guess as to the identity of the man in the Oakland organization who is blocking this perfectly rational football move. Hint: It's the same guy who has blocked every other rational football move in recent Oakland Raiders history.

No, it's not this awesome guy. It's Raiders owner Al Davis.

Here's FanHouse's Nancy Gay on what's happening with Russell right now.

"While there has been overriding support in the Raiders organization to release Russell and thereby absolve the franchise from $6.45 million in 2010 salary liability should the maligned former starting quarterback injure himself on their property during the minicamp, any personnel move falls under owner Al Davis' thumb. And that makes it anyone's guess."

"Things change by the minute here," one Raiders source said Wednesday when asked for the latest update on Russell's status.

"Don't know anymore," another team source said.

And here's the NFL Network's Michael Lombardi:

"One person, Al Davis, the owner of the Oakland Raiders, is the only person who's going to make this decision. The organization wants to get rid of JaMarcus Russell, the sentiment within the organization is to get rid of JaMarcus Russell, and the dollar signs are there to get rid of JaMarcus Russell. And it will happen. But it's only going to happen on the owner's timetable. Nobody's going to tell him when to do it, or how to do it. When he wakes up one morning and decides he wants to release JaMarcus Russell, that's when it will happen."

I guess when you get to be Al Davis's age and you feel like paying a guy $9.45 million to sit and watch Raiders games, then you have every right to do just that. That doesn't make it a good idea, and it might not make one damn bit of sense ... but you can do it.

Whatever makes you happy, Al.

Related: Oakland Raiders, People Not Doing a Great Job

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