New York Jets sign Stevan Ridley

While New York Jets new general manager Mike Maccagnan’s biggest and splashiest moves have been on the defensive side of the ball where he’s signed Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, Buster Skrine and Marcus Gilchrist, he’s also done a nice job of adding talent and depth to the offensive side of the ball as well.

The Jets agreed to a deal with another former New England Patriot, running back Stevan Ridley.

Stevan Ridley will give the New York Jets another back to challenge Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell and Daryl Richardson for playing time, and the luxury of heading into the draft without as much of a need at the position. Ridley started for the Patriots before his season was ended with a torn ACL, and is a solid back who sometimes struggles with ball security. It wouldn’t be a shock if the Jets still drafted a running back, but now they can go into the draft without feeling they have to.

While nobody on the offensive side of the ball provides the kind of optimism that luring Revis back to town does, the Jets additions on the offensive side of the ball will make the offense more complete. The Jets added depth on the offensive line including former Seattle Seahawks guard James Carpenter, traded a 5^th-round draft pick for Brandon Marshall, who will likely be their best offensive weapon, and have now added depth to the backfield with Ridley.

Despite the focus of the Jets offseason plan being on the defensive side of the ball, Maccagnan has done a nice job of adding pieces on the offensive side of the ball which should help with the kind of run-focused, ball control offense that people expect new Jets head coach Todd Bowles to employ.

Buccaneers work out Winston and Mariota on back to back days

The truth is, we have no idea how it went. While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will only tell us amazing and positive things about Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston, we’ll never really know how the team’s workouts with the two quarterbacks went.

For a while now it’s been widely speculated that the Buccaneers have already made their decision to draft Winston first overall on April 30^th, but it would seem that Tampa Bay is at least doing their due diligence before making that decision.

It would seem like a rather expensive smoke screen to fly all over the country in two days to workout both Mariota and Winston if the decision has already been made, but this is the time of the year for just those kind of smoke screens. Whether the Buccaneers have made up their minds or not, they have to remain open the possibility that someone offers them a deal they can’t refuse to move up to the top of the draft, and for that reason alone, it makes sense for the team to suggest they could draft either guy.

When it comes down to it, it still seems pretty clear that Winston is the guy for Tampa Bay. Regardless of their opinions on Mariota’s ceiling, most analysts agree that it’s going to be a project for Mariota’s game to translate to the NFL. Even for those who believe Mariota will be a good or great NFL quarterback, there’s a lot of belief that Mariota won’t be ready to succeed at the next level for a year or two.

After the Buccaneers went 2-14, and somehow went backwards after replacing the mess that was the Greg Schiano regime, Lovie Smith and Jason Licht may not have time to wait for Mariota’s transition. Winston gives the Buccaneers the best chance for an immediate turnaround, and is the safer pick on the football field. Tampa Bay might be doing their job by checking out both guys extensively, but it would still be a surprise to see the Buccaneers select anyone but Winston three weeks from tonight.

Aqib Talib has another run in with the law

For those that know him or have had the honor of covering him, there’s probably very little surprise that Denver cornerback Aqib Talib is in trouble with the law again.

Dallas Police say they are investigating Talib and his brother for aggravated assault after the pair got into an altercation at a Dallas night club Wednesday night. Talib and his brother reportedly had issues with another local unnamed athlete. Upon ejection from the club, the complainant reports that either Talib or his brother aimed a gun at him, and fired into the air.

Regardless of the facts or how this played out, this recent run in with the law is just another example of why Talib’s character and intelligence will never be on par with his excellent play on the football field. Since entering the NFL, Talib has shown time and again that his only redeeming qualities are his size and ability to cover NFL receivers, and eventually one has to wonder if it’s worth having him on your NFL roster, and in your community.

During his time in Tampa Bay, Talib should have answered that question, but his talent at such a key position has kept him in the game, even when his actions have proven him to be a bad character guy with no common sense.

While with the Buccaneers, Talib punched a cab driver in the back of the head, while the cab driver was driving down the highway with Talib and some of his Buccaneers teammates in the car. After a guy is dumb enough to put his own life, a cab driver’s life, and even his teammate’s lives at risk, you have to consider it a risk to have him on your football team, at all.  Despite his shaky situation, Talib has only stayed out of trouble in spurts, and it’s likely only a matter of time before he screws up again.