A New Day In Minnesota

The Brett Favre bubble has at last burst. After months of courting and flirtations on both sides, the Vikings are now left to pick up the pieces of Favre's latest retirement. So, what's next for the Vikings? Head coach Brad Childress was left answering these kinds of questions for reporters on the eve before Vikings camp commences.

Just days ago, Tarvaris Jackson gave the team an ultimatum that if and when Brett Favre was signed, he wanted out. Now he just might be the man the team turns to lead them this season. Vikings coaches are thoroughly impressed with Jackson's offseason workouts as well as his confidence and maturity in handling not only the Favre situation but the earlier trade for QB Sage Rosenfels. Jackson has clearly taken a step forward despite all of this mess and the word is they will give him an opportunity to claim the QB1 job in Minnesota.

When asked Thursday who will be taking first team reps when camp opens at 9 AM Friday, Childress replied that they just might "pitch horseshoes or something like that." This is in stark contrast to his previous stance way back before all the Favre rumors began that newly acquired Sage Rosenfels would open camp as the starter.

Over the long haul, I like Rosenfels to win this battle and not just because they traded for him and gave him starting money. Rosenfels is a talented QB and is ready to be a starter in this league. I had him rated as my top backup QB entering last season because of his ability to read defenses and make all the throws. He is a guy who just has "it" as far as knowing how defenses want to stop him and how to beat them at it. I strongly feel that Rosenfels will lead the Vikings to the playoffs this year and throw 25+ TD's. The team will give Jackson every chance however to take the job from Rosenfels this summer which is probably the right thing to do at this point. This will allow the team to heal a bit and come together behind whoever wins the battle.

The battle starts tomorrow.


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One Jets RB Reports, One More To Go

Thomas Jones wasn't smiling when he walked through the doors of Jets camp this morning but at least he has finally showed up. Jones say out all of the Jets offseason activities in protest of his current contract which will pay him a guaranteed $900,000 this season. There's no doubt that the pressure was on Jones to show up on time because the team did draft Iowa RB Shonn Greene in the third round of this years draft. As much as Jones would want to hold out, he and his agent know that running behind this offensive line is a blessing for any RB.

While Jones did the smart thing and got his behind to camp, fellow Jets RB Leon Washington had decided to hold out for a new contract. Washington met with Jets officials this afternoon and are reportedly close on a new deal that would pay the scatback in the neighborhood of $4 million per year. Washington has a bit more leverage than Jones because of his return abilities but if this holdout continues you can bet the farm the team will try out all options in the return game and could very well strong arm him if one pans out. All 3 of the Jets RB's are replaceable at this point due to the presence of their great offensive line. If I were Washington, I would take a fair offer right now and drag my smurf like ass into camp before somebody takes his job.


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Roundup 7/29

News & Notes: From My Blackberry To Your Eyes

• Josh Cribbs says he will not play in a game without a contract extension or a revised deal with a pay increase. Cribbs says that he is participating in camp as a sign of 'good faith' for the organization and the new coaching staff. But he is prepared to sit out as many regular season games as it takes until he gets a bump.

• The Steelers decided to lockup TE Heath Miller in a new 6 year deal. I do not yet have the financial terms but this ensures that he will be in place and once again capable of being a low end #1 fantasy TE in 2009.

• Raiders head coach Tom Cable says that while JaMarcus Russell will enter camp atop the QB depth chart, "How it all plays out and all that, we're always evaluating this football team. We certainly want to put the best chance on the field to win." That basically leaves open the very possible outcome of Jeff Garcia outplaying Russell in camp and leaping ahead of him to be the starting QB of the Raiders in week 1 of the regular season. You see, there IS hope in Oakland this year!

• Everybody is speculating about Michael Vick these days and here is what I have been hearing of late. The only...and I stress only team that has made any contact with Vick's agent Joel Segal has been the Jacksonville Jaguars. While those talks were more exploratory in nature, many in the industry including myself believe this makes the most sense. My take on it is the Jaguars need to generate hype in order to sell tickets and they need to do so very badly. The community of Jacksonville has been decimated by the economical downturn and it's not getting better any time soon. There is a very real possibility that more than half of the Jaguars home games this season will not sellout thereby taking them off the TV in the local markets and further alienating the few fans they have left. This is a very real and very dire situation that may result in the franchise moving as soon as 2010. Signing Vick is a risque, yet provocative move that would generate buzz in a town that desperately needs it. David Garrard would be in no danger of losing his starting job, though the team would be improving their depth and talent at the QB position behind Garrard.

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Who Need AAA When You Have A-N-Q-U-A-N

Funny story out of Flagstaff, AZ. where the Arizona Cardinals are arriving for training camp today. Anquan Boldin had issued a statement saying that he would not talk to the media upon his arrival in Flagstaff so there wasn't high hopes for the guys covering the beat there. When Boldin arrived he was talking on his cell phone and went quickly inside the facility, then reemerged getting into his vehicle and taking off.

I got word of a couple of hours ago and was all prepared to write our first breaking story of camp that Anquan Boldin had fled Cardinals camp already. But then an incoming text notified me that Boldin was back at camp and has a couple of guests with him.

Turns out those guests were teammates Early Doucet and Ali Highsmith. Evidently, Highsmith's car had broken down on the outskirts of death valley and Boldin went out on a search and rescue mission. The former LSU teammates were fine and are also now at camp with Boldin safe and sound.

Roundup 7/28

Here we are, the first day of my brand spanking new Training Camp Blog here at Fantasy Football Search and I couldn't be more excited. This is what I live for guys. Networking with my colleagues in this business, watching practices, scouting players and passing all of the information I gather each and every day to you, our loyal reader.

So far there are nine teams that have begun training camp 2009. Here are some of the top stories so far:

Braylon Edwards reported to Browns camp and after going through a routine physical it was discovered that he is still suffering from an ankle surgery that caused him to miss all of the teams minicamps this summer. Evidently, when Edwards showed up to camp a day after head coach Eric Mangini asked him to, the medical staff declared his ankle not well enough to practice. Thus, he has now been placed on the active/non-football injury list. This amounts to a whole lot of nothing actually as he can be activated at anytime. Remember, this is not the PUP list where a player automatically misses the first 6 games. Edwards will be back in a week or so and will benefit from full treatments and have enough practice time to be ready to go in week #1.

Atlanta WR Roddy White is unhappy and directing a fair amount of his anger at fellow WR Michael Jenkins. White is unhappy with Jenkins getting a contract extension this offseason while the team has been unwilling to redo his current deal. Talk around Atlanta is that White is seriously considering holding out if the team doesn't show him some "respect" and soon. We'll see this Friday.


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Training Camp Reporting Dates

AFC

Baltimore Ravens: -- July 27
Buffalo Bills: -- July 25
Cincinnati Bengals: -- July 30
Cleveland Browns: -- July 24
Denver Broncos: -- July 30
Houston Texans: -- July 26
Indianapolis Colts: -- August 2
Jacksonville Jaguars: -- August 2
Kansas City Chiefs: -- July 31
Miami Dolphins: -- August 1
New England Patriots: -- July 26
New York Jets: -- July 27
Oakland: -- July 29
Pittsburgh Steelers: -- July 31
San Diego Chargers: -- July 26
Tennessee Titans: -- July 30


NFC

Arizona Cardinals: -- July 29
Atlanta Falcons: -- July 31
Carolina Panthers: -- August 2
Chicago Bears: -- July 31
Dallas Cowboys: -- July 29
Detroit Lions: -- July 31
Green Bay Packers: -- July 31
Minnesota Vikings: -- July 30
New Orleans Saints: -- July 30
New York Giants: -- August 3
Philadelphia Eagles: -- July 26
St. Louis Rams: -- July 30
San Francisco 49ers: -- July 28
Seattle Seahawks: -- July 30
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -- July 31
Washington Redskins: -- July 29

Welcome To The Training Camp Blog

For those of you new to Fantasy Football Search and our little family here, allow me to welcome you and thank you ever so much for purchasing our 2009 Draft Kit & Season Pass! There is simply not a better purchase you will make for yourself this season I promise you that.

To those who do not know me, I am Jeff Mans formerly of Scout Fantasy Football. I am proud to be the senior writer for Fantasy Football Search now and one of the hosts of our popular podcast Fantasy Football Tonight. I've been in this industry for 19 years and have been fortunate enough to build strong friendships with other writers and personnel in each and every NFL market. No, I am no Adam Schefter or John Clayton but they also don't give a damn about fantasy. I am updating my blogs throughout Fantasy Football Search all day long and will be posting only the most important and interesting fantasy football information that I gather from my sources around the NFL.

This Training Camp Blog will be packed each and every day with the latest happenings from each teams camp and complete with injury news, depth chart updates, conditioning reports, performance evaluations, coaching schemes, playbook updates and much, much more.

So bookmark this page and check back frequently because I guarantee that you will not get a better handle on the fantasy implications of training camp anywhere else. You can count on that.