One More Year 

Patriots’ cornerback Asante Samuel opted to end his off season hold out in favor of receiving 7.79 million dollar one-year deal. Samuel, who ended last season with 64 tackles and a career high 10 interceptions was given the controversial franchise tag at seasons end.

In an off season that saw 80 million go to cornerback Nate Clements, Samuel felt he could hold out for a long term contract, the ability to seek one, or a trade. In very Patriot-like fashion no quarter was given, sparking a war of attrition between the two sides.  

Samuel seemed to be one of the only blemishes on a phenomenal off season that brought major improvements on both sides of the ball to a team that missed the Super Bowl by the narrowest of margins. With Samuel back, this team has all the components to live up to the preseason hype.   

Vikings Trade for Plan B

 The Vikings quarterback situation gets a little bit better as they acquire veteran Kelly Holcomb in a trade with Philadelphia. Minnesota gave up a sixth round draft pick in order to add some much needed depth to the roster.   

Going into the 2007 season the biggest question mark for the Vikings is the quarterback situation. Tarvaris Jackson, though he has ample potential, is very inexperienced and unpolished. Can he handle run an effective offense? With current backup Brooks Bollinger having an unimpressive preseason, the addition of Holcomb makes sense. 

Holcomb found himself lost in Philadelphia’s depth charts, and was probably looking at getting cut due to the very limited action he was seeing in the preseason. Holcomb has never been a great number one option, but has shown flashes of brilliance as a backup.

  Levi Brown will start at RT

 The main focus of the Arizona Cardinals this off-season was to strengthen an offensive line that has been sub par for too long. Although it was likely that first round pick Levi Brown would start for this team, returning starter Oliver Ross had been a productive player for Russ Grimm in the past and was competing for the start. 

That competition is now over as Ross has officially been placed on injured reserve for the 2007 season with a triceps injury he suffered in the first preseason outing against the Raiders. The job is now Brown’s, but losing depth at an area of weakness could prove to sting the Cardinals down the line.

 Brigg’s Night Out? 

A $350,000 Lamborghini was found wrecked and abandoned around 3 a.m. on Interstate Highway 94, in northern Illinois. When police ran the plates they discovered that the car was registered to none other than Chicago’s own linebacker Lance Briggs.  

Briggs had not reported the vehicle lost or stolen, which seemed confusing until it was discovered that Briggs had in fact been driving the vehicle when it was crashed into a light post.

 Briggs has now been charged with a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of an accident. He was also cited for improper lane usage and failure to give notice of an accident. He is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 4, where he faces a maximum of 364 days in jail and $1000 fine.  

There is no real chance of Briggs facing any time for this, as there is probably no real chance of us ever hearing the story of how Lance crashed his $350,000 car.