OK, so I am not the biggest Sports Illustrated fan in the world. I much prefer Fox Sports' web site over SI.com and I like ESPN the magazine better than SI's weekly edition. However, SI did recently put out a challenge to its fans that I found both interesting and fun. The idea is to get a 53 man NFL roster with the current salary cap restraints. Someone at SI went through and recorded the yearly salary for every player in the NFL going into the 2008-2009 season. For unsigned rookies they gave you a salary range based on what round they were drafted in. I encourage any hardcore NFL fan to give it a try, as it is a little more difficult than you might think. It also gives you some insight into how an NFL GM goes about his daily business. If you are interested the link is here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/dom_bonvissuto/06/26/roster.challenge/index.html?eref=T1

The challenging part is coming up with an offensive and defensive schem and then finding players who would fit into it well. Finding good special teams players was a little challenging also. After three days of working on it (in my spare time, mind you - I'm not that hopeless!) here is the roster that I have put together. If anyone comes up with their own, by all means send me a link to it or post it back here as a comment!

Note: Players are listed in the order they would appear on the depth chart with their current salaries listed in parenthesis.

Offense (Zone blocking, power running oriented)

QB: Ben Roethlisberger (7,975,760)

       Jay Cutler (2,325,000)

       Trent Edwards (734,470)

 RB: Adrian Peterson (2,431,360)

       Rashard Mendenhall (2,000,000)

      Maurice Jones-Drew (685,000) 

     Ahmad Bradshaw (383,501)

 FB: Madison Hedgecock (1,300,000)

 WR:  Plaxico Burress (4,860,000)

          TJ Houshmandzadeh (3,687,500)

          Donte Stallworth (1,405,000)

          Shaun McDonald (1,675,000)

         Dwayne Bowe (1,276,240)

         Devin Hester (795,000) - kick returner

 TE: Heath Miller (1,726,720)

        Ben Watson (1,318,387)

        Greg Olsen (1,312,970)

 OT: Marc Colombo (4,000,000)

        David Diehl (2,460,000)

       Tony Ugoh (786,666)

 OG: Mike Goff (3,231,120)

        Justin Hartwig (1,487,500)

        Ben Grubbs (1,256,720)

        Toniu Fonoti (485,000)

 C: Nick Hardwick (2,006,120)

    Dorenbos, Jon (820,053) - long snapper

Defense (3-4, blitz heavy)

 DE: Osi Umenyiora (4,987,500)

        Igor Olshansky (1,581,120)

        Justin Tuck (2,454,250)

        Marcus Spears (1,522,500)

 DT: Vince Wilfork (2,040,054)

        Chris Hoke (1,481,720)

        Atiyyah Ellison (526,000)

 MLB: Lofa Tatupu (2,070,000)

          Jon Beason (1,718,740)

          Kirk Morrison (1,893,840)

          DeMeco Ryans (1,276,250)

 OLB: Shawne Merriman (2,643,620)

          Demarcus Ware (2,157,000)

          Thomas Howard (1,001,240)

          Ahmad Brooks (605,187)

 CB: Asante Samuel (9,145,000)

       Antonio Cromartie (1,731,120)

       Ellis Hobbs (1,631,720)

       Marlin Jackson (1,575,000)

       Artrell Hawkins (455,000)

       Tyvon Branch (400,000) - backup kick returner

 SS: Troy Polamalu (6,824,800)

        Laron Landry (2,645,833)

FS: Gibril Wilson (2,011,240)

       Brandon Meriweather (1,406,720) 

 K: Nate Kaeding (1,756,120)

 P: Kyle Larson (1,230,000)