Ravens lock down Lardarius Webb with six-year deal

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 5, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT

Getty Images

Lardarius Webb won’t be going anywhere.

Webb, the Ravens cornerback who became a restricted free agent last month, has agreed to a six-year contract to remain in Baltimore, the team announced today.

The deal has a total value of $50 million, a $10 million signing bonus and more than $20 million guaranteed, NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora reports.

“Lardarius is an important player for the Ravens and we’re very happy he will be with us for a long time,” Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome said in as statement. “We have a good history of completing second contracts for targeted players we want to keep for the long haul.”

The 26-year-old Webb became a starter in Baltimore in 2011 after two years as a backup and had an excellent season. The Ravens expect him to have many more excellent seasons ahead.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming soon, TTR's 2nd Annual Mock Draft Contest!

Seahawks contemplating Kam Chancellor at OLB

Posted by Josh Alper on April 5, 2012, 11:32 AM EDT

Getty Images

Draft season is never low on reports of teams considering all kinds of moves, but a recent report about the Seahawks is a head scratcher.

Tony Pauline of SI.com and DraftInsider.net reports that the team would really like to trade down out of the 12th spot in the draft. If they are able to trade down, the object of their affection is Alabama linebacker Donta Hightower. That makes sense as Hightower would help fill the void left by David Hawthorne’s departure as a free agent.

Damning evidence of Gregg Williams and the Bounty Scandal

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 5, 2012, 7:30 AM EDT

Reuters

Before his final game as defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, Gregg Williams stepped before his players and urged them to physically hurt players on the 49ers.

Audio of Williams’ speech to the Saints’ defense was captured by filmmaker Sean Pamphilon, who is working on a documentary about former Saints player Steve Gleason, who is suffering from ALS. Pamphilon has put part of the audio of the profanity-filled speech on YouTube.

Cowboys hiding their interest in Dontari Poe?

Posted by Evan Silva on April 4, 2012, 11:38 PM EDT

Getty Images

SI.com draft analyst Tony Pauline wrote on his blog Monday that the Cowboys are targeting Memphis defensive tackleDontari Poe at the No. 14 pick in the draft, and Poe is the “apple of their eyes.”

But the Cowboys haven’t scheduled a club-facility visit with Poe, which doesn’t align with their usual pre-draft approach for prospects they’re targeting. Every player Dallas has picked first in the draft since 2005 has visited club headquarters before draft day. They’re usually an open book.

According to Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, however, this is a case of Dallas trying to conceal its fondness for Poe. A source told Hill that the Cowboys haven’t set up a pre-draft visit because they “like him a lot but don’t want to draw attention to him.”

So this is either a smokescreen on top of another smokescreen, an attempt at a reverse smokescreen, or a genuine attempt by Jerry Jones’ team to hide genuine interest.

Got that?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming soon, TTR's 2nd Annual Mock Draft Contest!

Zbikowski says Colts want to "beat the crap out of people"

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 4, 2012, 7:41 PM EDT

Getty Images

A year ago, Tom Zbikowski was biding his time during the lockout by beating the crap out of people in the boxing ring. Now he’s focusing on beating the crap out of people on the football field.

New Colts coach Chuck Pagano opened the team’s offseason program by giving his players shirts that say “building the monster,” and Zbikowski told Albert Breer of NFL Network that he interprets that as building a team that can “beat the crap out of people.”

Zbikowski, who followed Pagano from the Ravens to the Colts this offseason, will be part of what Pagano hopes is a very different Colts defense in 2012: A tougher, more physical defense that doesn’t resemble the defense of last year’s 2-14 team.

The arrival of Andrew Luck as the quarterback of the future will be the biggest story coming out of Indianapolis heading into the 2012 season. But upgrading the defense will be every bit as important to reversing the Colts’ fortunes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming soon, TTR's 2nd Annual Mock Draft Contest!

James Sanders to sign with the Cardinals

Posted by Josh Alper on April 4, 2012, 6:49 PM EDT

Getty Images

Twitter has shaken up the past method of announcing signings with players sometimes breaking the word of their plans before the teams.

That appears to be the case with free agent safety James Sanders and the Cardinals. Sanders tweeted Wednesday afternoon that joining the Cardinals is “a done deal.” There hasn’t been any confirmation from the team at this point, but Sanders was in for a visit on Tuesday.