Saints WR Lance Moore to Have Shoulder Surgery

REPORT: New Orleans Saints wide receiver Lance Moore was injured while lifting weights during the team's off-season training program and will require surgery to repair the damage.

Head Coach Sean Payton said he expects Moore to miss the team's spring mini-camps but he is hopeful that Moore will be available to return for the start of training camp in July.

Faine and Winslow Sidelined at Bucs Mini Camp

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now three voluntary workouts into the Raheem Morris era, and are already missing a few important pieces to their '09 team.

QB Brian Griese, LT Donald Penn, RB Earnest Graham and RB Cadillac Williams have not reported yet for the voluntary practices in Tampa, Florida. Griese, who should be at practice battling with QB's Luke McCown and second-year man Josh Johnson for the starting QB position, is in Denver attending to his wife Brook, who is 8-months pregnant.

Graham and Williams are both recovering from season ending injuries and are not expected to participate for a little while. Penn is a restricted free agent and has not signed his tender offer and is therefore not currently on the Bucs roster.

More notable for the second day of the three-day mini camp is the absence on center Jeff Faine and tight end Kellen Winslow, both of whom were in attendance for day one.

Faine is sitting out of practice with an injury and will miss the remainder of the mini camp. “Everything is fine,” said Faine. “I just tweaked my back a little bit last week while weightlifting. It’s nothing serious. This is just the introduction stuff, so I can pick a lot of it up in the classroom. We’ll just let it get back to normal.”

Second-year offensive lineman Jeremy Zuttah is taking advantage of Faine's absense and showing his versatility by filling in as the first team center, splitting timewith Sean Mahan.

The reason for Winslow's absence has not yet been explained, but will likely spark speculation about his health.

Competition Committee Accepts New Safety Rules

The NFL and the Competition Committee wastes no time when it comes to player's safety, passing four new rule changes ahead of schedule on the usual owners meeting agenda. In past meetings, owners usually waited until Wednesdays to debate and vote on rule changes involving the game, but this year were voted in on Tuesday.

The NFL is going to outlaw the "wedge" on kickoffs, stop the bunching of players on onside kicks, protect blockers from a helmet-to-helmet hit from the blind side and save receivers from forearm or shoulder hits to the head when they appear to be defenseless.

Under terms of the new anti-wedge rule, no more than two players on the receiving team may intentionally form a wedge to help the returner. The penalty is 15 yards and will be enforced from the spot of the wedge. It will be called if three or more players line up shoulder to shoulder within 2 yards of each other to lead the blocking.

Under the new onside kick rule, players on the kickoff team will be spaced accordingly. First, at least four players of the kicking team must be on each side of the kicker. Second, at least three players must be lined up outside each inbounds line, including one who must be outside the yard-line number.

The third accepted proposal involves a play in which Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Hines Ward made a block that resulted in a broken jaw for Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers. A 15-yard penalty will be enforced if a player delivers a blind-side block to the head of a defender using his helmet, forearm or shoulder.



The final change addresses forearm and shoulder hits to protect defenseless receivers. In the past, officials gave an unnecessary roughness penalty to a defender if he delivered a helmet hit to a receiver going across the middle of the field or any spot on the field in which he appeared to be defenseless. Starting this fall, the penalty will also apply if the defender hits the defenseless receiver in the head or neck with his forearm or shoulder.

Also, defenders who are knocked to the ground no longer can lunge into quarterbacks if the play is still going on. Kansas City safety Bernard Pollard did just that on the hit that ended Tom Brady's season almost before it began, and Pereira placed such plays in the player safety category.



That adjustment was not a rule change and did not require an owners' vote.

Pereira was dismayed by the lack of progress in curbing horse-collar tackles. There were 24 called in 2008, up from 12, but there also were 47 league fines handed out for them.

"That's just too high a number," he said. "We have not been effective in terms of stopping the tactic."

Saints Release Veteran CB McKenzie

The New Orleans Saints have released 11-year veteran cornerback, Mike McKenzie after spending five seasons with the team. The move will save $4.575 Million in salary cap room.

McKenzie joined the Saints via a trade with the Green Bay Packers in 2004 but has been limited by injuries the last few season. The release does not come as a suprise as the Saints have been upgrading their defensive backfield over the last two seasons adding; Jason David, Randall Gay and Jabari Greer in free agency. They also drafted starter Tracy Porter last season. The Saints are also said to be interested in drafting CB/FS Malcolm Jenkins out of Ohio State.

When not limited by injuries, McKenzie has a reputation of being one of the better man-to-man coverage players in the league.

Bucs LB Gets Cut, Litterally

Tampa Bay linebacker Geno Hayes, a rookie 6th round pick last season was stabbed him in the head with a pair of scissors and in the neck with a knife, by his girlfriend, according to Hillsborough County deputies

Hayes was taken to a hospital by a friend, and he was treated and released.

Deputies arrested 19-year-old Shevelle Bagley at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, she was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Shevelle has since been released on $25,000 bail.

According to Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter, the incident began with an argument Saturday, and Bagley grabbed a pair of scissors, stabbing Hayes and causing a superficial wound to Hayes' head, Carter said. Hayes got the scissors away from Bagley. Then Bagley "grabbed a knife and stabbed him in the neck".

Hayes is expected to compete for a starting position this off season for the Bucs after the former starter Derrick Brooks was released last month. No word yet, on whether these injuries will affect his chances.

Gordon Returning to Vikings on 1-Year Deal

Cornerback Charles Gordon has agreed to a one-year deal with the Vikings, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Gordon's 2008 season came to an end in the Vikings' 28-27 victory over Green Bay on Nov. 9 when he suffered a gruesome injury to his left ankle on a punt return at the Metrodome.
Gordon, who averaged 4.4 yards on 15 returns, also had been used as the Vikings nickelback in passing situations.

Gordon, signed by the Vikings in 2006 as a free agent out of Kansas, played in all 16 games in 2007 and had three starts. He started two of the nine games in which he played last season.
Gordon is expected to receive a base salary of about $530,000, with a chance to earn another $500,000 in incentives.

*WARNING* Video is not for the Squeamish, Viewer Discretion

Crabtree Has Stress Fracture in Foot, Needs Surgery

Top NFL Prospect and former Texas Tech Red Raider WR Michael Crabtree has a small stress fracture in his left foot that will require a pin to be surgically inserted to stabilize that area of the foot. He is expected to be out 10 weeks after the surgery.

The fracture was discovered when a bone scan was performed as part of the medical portion of the NFL scouting combine. Crabtree did not work out at the Combine and has left early to return home.

After meeting with his advisors Crabtree has decided that he will hold off surgery until after his Pro Day on March 26th. Where he will run the 40-yard dash.

"It has been there for about a year and it's never caused me any pain. I can play with it the rest of my life. It won't stop me from running. I'm going to run."

Crabtree won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver each of the two years he played for the Red Raiders and became the first repeat winner since it was established in 1994. He also earned All-America honors the past two seasons.

The Deuce is Cut Loose

In an article I should file under "totally expected news", Deuce McAllister the long time and very popular New Orleans Saints' running back was released today.

McAllister, 30, has for years remaining on his contract and was expected to make $5.3 Million in 2009. The Saints will save more than $4 million in salary-cap space this year now that McAllister is off the roster. His "cap figure" will decrease from $7.3 million to roughly $3 million. The way the cap works, the Saints still need to account for $3 million of his signing bonus from the eight-year, $50.1 million contract extension he signed in 2005.

"Decisions like this are always very difficult ones to make," Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis said in a statement before the press conference. "Deuce has epitomized hard work, leadership and productivity throughout his career and has been a source of great pride for all of us associated with the team. His records and accomplishments on the field speak for themselves about the type of player he was in a Saints uniform. He truly ranks as one of the greatest players in our club's history, and we are very respectful of everything he has meant to the Saints and our community."

The decision to cut McAllister is not purely a cost saving maneuver, McAllister has seen his role in the Saints' offense diminish with the emergence of Pierre Thomas and the fact that McAllister has suffered 2 knee injuries in 3 season.

QB Quinn Closing in on 100%

Brady Quinn, the Cleveland Browns' QB, who had pins inserted in his right index finger on Dec. 3rd, to repair a damaged extensor tendon and bone chip, has been throwing a football for about two weeks now. He says he is throwing around 60 - 70 balls a day with the same type of power and distance he had pre-injury.

The pins were removed in mid-January, and the rehab process began. He started by throwing foam balls and has worked his way back up to footballs. Quinn says he is pain-free and the surgery was 100% successful.

"Right now, I anticipate being able to participate fully in the off-season program (beginning March 16)," he said. "There's no doubt about it. I'm pretty much in the final phase of my rehab. It's a matter of making sure it's loose before I throw and gradually strengthening my finger as well as my grip."

With rehab going well Quinn is excited for next season and is preparing himself to compete to be the starting quarterback.

Panthers Owner at Home with New Heart

Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was released from the hospital Thursday, 12 days after his heart transplant surgery.

The 72-year-old Richardson is still in the early stages of the process. Transplant patients generally face recovery times of three to six months, and doctors at Carolinas Medical Center said last week that older patients generally take much longer to heal.

Although Richardson will be monitored very carefully while at home it is a big step in his recovery to be released at this point.

Runyan Out 4-6 Months

Philadelphia Eagles RT Jon Runyan, 35, who is about to become a free agent on Feb. 27th may have seriously hurt his chances of joining another team in 2009. Runyan went to Birmingham to see Dr. James Andrews for arthoscopic knee surgery, which in most cases would keep a player off his feet for 2 or 3 days.

During the surgery Dr. Andrews found more serious problems and needed to perform micro fracture surgery, now Runyan will be forced to miss 4-6 months. Signing a 35 year old player, who won't be able to practice with his new team until the season starts is a huge risk, but Runyan is staying positive.

"I think there's enough of a track record out there that it's not going to totally kill me," said Runyan, whose streak of 192 successive games played is an impressive feat for a player in the trenches. "The doctor says I should be as good as new. But I'm not going to be able to prove it until time to play."

Panthers' Owner gets New Heart

Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was contacted Sunday night and rushed to Carolinas Medical Center for a heart transplant after spending 2 months on the waiting list.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Mark Stiegel and Dr. Eric Skipper and lasted approximately 5 hours. Stiegel said in a release issued by the team that "the donor heart was working well," and team officials described Richardson as "resting comfortably" at CMC while surrounded by family.

According to CMC spokesman Scott White, the hospital has performed 428 heart transplants since 1986. Of the adult transplant recipients, 94.74 percent survived the first month, 89.47 percent the first year and 80.65 percent three years.

The 72-year-old Richardson was placed on the national transplant list in December. The median wait for a heart is 2.1 months, putting him slightly ahead of schedule. Patients are matched with available organs based on compatibility, size and location. Not only did the former Baltimore Colts tight end need a matching blood type, it had to be from a donor near his size (he's 6-4) and close enough for transport. The window for a donor heart to be ready for transplant is around four hours.

Bills RB Lynch to Pro Bowl

Tennessee Titans RB Chris Johnson has dropped out due to injury so, Buffalo Bills RB Marshawn Lynch will be heading to the pro bowl as his replacement.

Buffalo's 2007 first-round draft pick out of California rushed for 1,036 yards this season and 8 TD's this season in just 15 games. Lynch would have been joining teammate Jason Peters but he also was forced to drop out due to injury.

Williams has Surgery to Repair Shoulder

Denver Broncos LB D.J. Williams had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff on his right shoulder. The team expects Williams to be out 4 - 6 weeks before being able to return to training and full rehabilitation.

Williams was the Broncos first round pick in 2004, his best overall season may have been his first, when he played his natural weakside linebacker position and finished third in the NFL defensive player of the year balloting. He has since been moved around to different LB positions and has been bothered by Knee and shoulder problem.

Denver rewarded Williams with a six-year, $32 million contract extension before the 2008 season and may be asking his to switch positions again as the Broncos move to a 3-4 defensive allignment.