From The Bottom Of The Birdcage 2/26

This is day No. 57 of the year. It’s 199 days away from opening Sunday in the NFL.

On February 26, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte became a free agent, after his escape from Elba. On Februrary 26, 1929, the Grand Teton National Park was created in Wyoming. Good move there. If you’ve never seen the Tetons, you’ve got to make it there before you die. Add it to the bucket list.

Born on February 26, 1829 was Levi Strauss, the clothing designer who moved to San Francisco and found the first company to manufacture blue jeans. Born on February 26, 1945 was Mitch Ryder, who went on to perform rock ‘n roll with several groups including Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. His biggest hit was Devil With The Blue Dress On.

On February 26, 1994, standup comedian Bill Hicks passed away from cancer. He was just 32 years old. Known for his irreverent routines on race, religion and drugs, he was once pulled from Late Night with David Letterman. He once joked that he quit using drugs “because once you’ve been taken aboard a UFO, it’s kind of hard to top that.”

And remember today the words of Mitch Ryder’s top song: “Fee fee, fi fi, fo fo, fum. Lookin’ mighty nice, here she comes. Wearin’ a wig, hat and shades to watch; got high heel sneakers and an alligator hat.”

They just don’t write lyrics like that anymore.

From FOXSports.com:
The most intriguing tales I heard in this financial climate were those regarding New England quarterback Matt Cassel. There is one proposal being whispered about where the Carolina Panthers would trade star DE Julius Peppers to the Patriots for Cassel. The Panthers recently tagged Peppers at $16.7 million — yes, a $1 million per game guy — for the Patriot quarterback who was franchised at $14.6 million. For one season, such a swap actually makes total sense to both teams. Both get the player they really need while hoping to sign him to a long-term contract. The general consensus is that Cassel wants about $75 million over five years, which includes $35 million in bonuses.

The Detroit Lions, who also need a quarterback of Cassel’s ability, are reportedly going to be heavy bidders in free agency. This is good news for Detroit fans, especially if GM Martin Mayhew and finanacial boss Tom Lewand make the right choices. Their first target is Tennessee’s All-Pro tackle Albert Haynesworth, who wants $14 million a season or something very close to what the Raiders are paying cornerback Nnamdi Ashomugha.

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Our buddy John Czarnecki covers a lot of ground in this piece from the NFL Scouting Combine. A lot of the talk is generated by agents who haunt the hallways and lobby of every major hotel in Indianapolis, trying to make deals, set up deals, finalize deals and deal deals. But agents today are often as prominent in NFL dealings as teams and players.

But there’s no doubt that the situation with Matt Cassel promises to be one of the most interesting to watch in this 2009 off-season/pre-season. Unless something changes with Tom Brady and the rehab from his knee injury-surgery, Cassel is a pretty expensive insurance policy. Everybody wants insurance, but everybody wants to pay as little as possible for the service. NFL teams and coaches are no different.

Czar dismisses the chances of Cassel ending up in a Chiefs uniform. I’m not sure that’s as black and white as he makes it sound, but I would agree with the outcome. If he was a free agent maybe, but getting Cassel would cost the Chiefs an incredible amount of money and a high draft choice. For a guy with 16 starts, that’s a pretty high price to pay.

From the St. Petersburg Times:
It was a bad day for loyalty. That much is inarguable. You could probably say the same about continuity and camaraderie. And, for anyone who has fallen in love with Sunday afternoons in the fall, it will go down as a horrible day for hearts and memories. On the other hand, it was necessary. And appropriate.

You can see that, can’t you? If you can put aside emotions for a moment, you will know this was both logical and inevitable. The reinvention of the Buccaneers began with the firing of a head coach and a general manager last month, and it continued Wednesday with the dismissal of a legend and a misperception. For far too long, the Bucs have tried to hold on to something that was no longer there. They have behaved each offseason as if they were just a swing pass away from turning the corner. That was wishful thinking. And, as of now, it has finally become yesterday’s thinking.

I’m not saying Derrick Brooks was the problem with the Buccaneers. Nor were Warrick Dunn, Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard or Cato June, for that matter. I’m saying the franchise needed a new identity. A fresh start. I’m saying the Bucs needed to become a different team than the one that has spent so many years traveling the same road to nowhere.

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It takes some guts to make the moves made by the new duo at the Bucs of GM Mark Dominik and head coach Raheem Morris. It’s a situation where right now in their honeymoon period is probably the only time they could afford to make such drastic moves as what went down with the release of guys like Brooks, Dunn and Galloway. Of course, what’s really important is what happens now and that will be the true test of Dominik/Morris and their decision making ability. They’ve decided to go in a different direction. It doesn’t mean it’s the right direction. But they had the guts to roll the dice. I’m sure Herm Edwards is watching and wishing he’d been able to pull off the same thing when he took over the Chiefs after the 2005 season.

From the San Francisco Chronicle: Raiders owner Al Davis admits it: He made a lot of costly mistakes last offseason. He overspent on too many underperforming free agents. The Raiders had the highest payroll in the NFL last season, and all that bought them was five wins. Now, Davis is trying to divorce himself from those pricey decisions – the team released left tackle Kwame Harris on Monday – in hopes of positioning the Raiders for the next wave of free agency, which begins at 9:01 p.m. Thursday.

“We did not do well in free agency, no,” Davis said earlier this month when asked about last year’s spending spree. “So it was a tough year for me because we didn’t do well in free agency.”

Admitting there was a problem is often the first step to recovery, and it’s one Davis isn’t often quick to take. It started in October, when he released two-time Pro Bowl cornerback DeAngelo Hall after eight games and $8 million. Last week, the Raiders dumped safety Gibril Wilson and his $39 million contract. Wide receiver Javon Walker could be next after an $11 million, 15-catch season. Harris, benched after signing a three-year, $16.3 million contract, is gone. That means homegrown defensive tackle Tommy Kelly could be the only big-dollar signee left standing come Friday.

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Al Davis is deservedly in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his contributions to the game. But over the last five years Davis is lucky he’s the lead owner of the Oakland Raiders. If he had to answer to somebody above him, he likely would have been fired from his position of power. Two years ago, the Raiders played it smart in free agency, resisted the urge to spend big dollars and added only some role players. When the team didn’t make the playoffs, Davis went the opposite direction for the ’08 season, throwing a lot of money at a lot of players and getting little or nothing in return. Smartly at least, Davis has admitted his mistakes, although the Raiders have yet to release Walker. It will be interesting to see which direction Davis takes his team this year.