NFL News:

• players getting paid before the franchise tag / free agency deadline:
  • Antonio Brown, Steelers: 4 years, $68 million
    • technically, an extension of his rookie deal, which would have paid him $4.7 million in 2017
      • he got a signing bonus as well, to top-up this year
  • Eric Berry, Chiefs: 6 years, $78 million

    

  • Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Chiefs: 5 years, $41.25 million
    • good for the Canadian kid out of McGill
      • who spends the off-season studying medicine

• today’s franchise tags:
  • [Redacteds] – Kirk Cousins
  • Browns – Isaiah Crowell
  • Giants – Jason Pierre-Paul
  • Cardinals – Chandler Jones
  • Los Angeles Chargers of Carson – Melvin Ingram

• kicked to the curb:
  • Adrian Peterson – Vikings opt to not exercise his 2017 option – $18 million
    • to become a UFA March 9
      • interest from the Giants
  • Jamaal Charles – released by the Chiefs

Here’s how the franchise tag numbers break down for 2017:

If you feel like some light-ish reading, ESPN has a short story on 25 years of the franchise tag.

Finally, if you want some long-form rehash with new updates, the MMQB has a story about Jerry Kramer still vying to get into the Hall of Fame. It fills you in on the number of times he’s come up for votes (10 – 9 during his eligibility window; once on the senior list), and what he does to stay both active & in the public eye. I read it because I’m a Packers fan.

I’m including this reference, because it shows – yet again – how much of a disgrace Roger Goodell is.

Kramer says Roger Goodell once asked him why he never attends the annual Hall of Fame ceremonies. Kramer told him because he’s not in the Hall of Fame. He said the commissioner was astonished.

PEOPLE FORGET THAT!

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL:
  • Avalanche at Flyers – 7:00PM | NBCSN
  • Capitals at Rangers – 7:00PM | Sportsnet
  • Flames at Kings – 9:00PM | Sportsnet1
• NBA:
  • Wizards at Warriors – 7:00PM | TSN
  • Hornets at Lakers – 10:30PM | TSN

• NCAA: lotsa good matches tonight; hard to pick
  • Georgetown at Seton Hall – 6:30PM | FS1
  • Florida State at Duke – 7:00PM | ESPN
  • Indiana at Purdue – 7:00PM | ESPN2
    • have a read on a Purdue perspective of the incident.
  • DePaul at Providence – 8:30PM | FS1
  • Vanderbilt at Kentucky – 9:00PM | ESPN

If you need yet another reason to hate Bobby Knight,

HERE YOU GO!