One of the biggest headaches facing the New Orleans Saints right now is settling on a contract with first-round pick Reggie Bush.
Their biggest worry is whether or not Bush will actually receive more money than No. 1 pick Mario Williams. Remember, the NFL prides itself with a well-known slotting system for first-round draft picks, but a precedent was set last season when the Cleveland Browns paid receiver Braylon Edwards, the third overall choice, quite a bit more than Miami paid running back Ronnie Brown, who was drafted second.
Alex Smith, the first choice, received compensation that could end up paying him $56.1 million in San Francisco. Brown's package was worth about $29.4 million, but the Browns shocked the league by giving Edwards a deal worth $36 million. Any way you slice it, Bush will try to get top dollar.
With a state income tax in Louisiana, Bush has already lost thousands compared to what he would have earned playing in Houston because Texas has no income tax.
Where's Webster?
The Buccaneers seem resigned to losing director of player personnel Rushton Webster to the highest bidder. Early indications were that Webster would join friend Tim Ruskell with the Seattle Seahawks, but the St. Louis Rams also are after Webster to replace GM Charlie Armey. Webster obviously would have more power with the Rams than in Seattle.
The Vikings should have pursued Webster prior to giving their job to the now-fired Fran Foley.
The Saints derby
You always run into some NFL people at the Kentucky Derby and I bumped into Saints owner Tom Benson and his wife, ####le, on Millionaires Row at Churchill Downs. Being from the Los Angeles-area, I had to ask about all the rumors about the Saints eventually relocating to L.A. in the future.
"Do you have $1.2 billion?" Benson asked. He was smiling, but he wasn't joking about the price.
This is the problem the NFL has with Benson right now. Sure, they are committed to New Orleans for this season, but what if the Saints' fans don't return to sellout the Superdome? What is the future of the NFL in a city that right now doesn't have 200,000 citizens?
Benson's asking price will be too much for any Los Angeles owner wanting to buy the Saints and try to succeed financially in either the Coliseum or Anaheim. The league has had no success in getting Benson to lower his price tag.
Also, it appears that Wayne Weaver is serious about remaining in Jacksonville and few really believe that Ralph Wilson would leave Buffalo for Los Angeles. The Saints make the most sense.
Also, many owners really thought that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't dealing in NFL reality by asking for teams in both the Coliseum and Anaheim.
NFL insiders know that Gov. Schwarzenegger and other California politicians won't help them build the necessary stadiums. That's why the Raiders and Rams left the region 11 years ago. The state and city wouldn't help them, either.
Was it Paris' fault?
Arizona rookie quarterback Matt Leinart has been dating Paris Hilton for six weeks now and, believe me, that news scared a few teams, some thinking that the former USC star had gone too much Hollywood.
Leinart, however, was the choice of Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher and GM Floyd Reese. But Titans owner Bud Adams told his coach and personnel man to draft Texas quarterback Vince Young even though Leinart was rated higher on the final Tennessee draft board. Adams, who moved his team from Houston to Nashville in 1997, wanted Young, his hometown kid.
when are all of the so called Czar's & experts going to stop reporting Bull#### stories about how the Titan coaches wanted this but the front office wanted that?!?!?!? The Titans got the BEST QB in the draft!!! A winner no matter how you slice it!!!
I've got to agree with stone. Young won the rose bowl this year, not leinart. And yes, leinart is too hollywood. USC is to hollywood. Vince Young was selected by the Titans, not the owner.Young will win a super bowl, and will be a hall of famer.
you are both out of your minds. Young will never make it to a super bowl. look at the division he will be playing in. lenart is a little hollywood but look were he went to school and grew up. I promise you leinart will be the better QB when its all said and done. Young is to much of a one man show, look at the rosebowl. he did it all himself, you think you can do that in the NFL?? if not for the rosebowl game Young would have been the 3rd QB in the draft.
Who cares if Young's team won the Rosebowl. I am not really for or against either one, but just b/c Young's team won (and yes he did play very well) does not mean he is the better (or worse) player.
Who cares if Young's team won the Rosebowl. I am not really for or against either one, but just b/c Young's team won (and yes he did play very well) does not mean he is the better (or worse) player.
clarkm1 U are out of your mind if u think lienert is anywhere close to vince young in terms of talent and outright potential. vince young has proven that he is a winner and can win big games. He was the best qb and the best player in the draft period. He deserved to be the first qb taken and is head and shoulders above the rest. with his strong and accurate arm and his mobility young is a shoe in to win multiple superbowls and will be a hall of famer
Anyone who thinks VY was the third best QB in the draft should have spent some time watching him last season. Even without his Rosebowl performance, he was the nations highest rated passer and the only QB EVER to throw for 3k and rush for 1k in a single season. Hist 500 yd performance against Oklahoma State didn't include return yards (a rediculous inclusion when the mediots were hyping Reggie Bush's performance against SD). Anyway you slice it, VY's college performance was more than the Rosebowl. Everyone was in denial during the regular season about just how good of a passer this kid really is.
College success means nothing in the NFL. There are countless examples to prove it. Let Vince Young prove himself on the field before you praise him or bash him. That is all.
I am surprised the people of New Orleans are not ALL OVER YOU! First you trash Bush for not going to Houston, then you question New Orleans' ability to sign him, now you want to move the team to Los Angeles! New Orleans is a GREAT football city! How many cities would support a consistently losing team for so long? And they deserve this from YOU!?! Go pick on someone else. The city of New Orleans has been through enough!
All u dumb A***s are idiots. Titans aere gonna regret passin up on Leinart. He's a proven winner too. Vince Young aint goin to get away with that scramblin and runnin he did in college. First time he meets Ray Lewis, or Brian Urlacher up the middle he's goin to think twice about doin that. Leinart is in a great situation in Arizona and guarantee he will win a SuperBowl before YOung. MArk my words USC HAters, thats all u guys are, SC haters
First off Leinart is too Hollywood....If I remember correctly USC sits right outside of Hollywood....As for Vince Young compared to Matt Leinart...I see Young more as a Michael Vick, and Leinart more like Daunte Culpepper...The Problem people don't understand is, Young WILL BE an impact player, that is if McNair doesn't return. If he doesn't come back Young will be a starter. In Matt's case he has to sit behind Kurt Warner...Granted that's if Warner doesn't get injured....That's at least the perspective I look at it in.
Aren't these the same comments that were made about Michael Vick when he was drafted? How many Superbowls has he won? True, Vick is an exciting player to watch, but anybody who truly watches the NFL knows that success in college doesn't translate to NFL success. How many great college quarterbacks were drafted with HUGE hype only to fall on their face? Do the names Ryan Leaf, Todd Marinovich, Akili Smith, Joey Harrington, Tim Couch, etc, etc, mean anything? Here's another name to think about, Tom Brady. Where was he drafted, the sixth round?!?! Man he must be a terrible quarteback to have dropped all the way to the sixth round. I'm guessing he is plenty happy with his 3 Superbowl victories and numerous other accolades.
Both QBs ML and VY could very well major success or major disappointments. Nothing about the college game is a true indicator see .. Andre Ware, Klingsbury, and that guy whathisname that San Diego took over Peyton Manning. (Peyton was only marginal in college) I think that Matt will have less to work on to be ready and VY has the greater potential. Depends on how the teams allow them to develop or not.
I agree with briggch. I think Young can be a good quarterback but look at the type of qb he is. Vick and Randall Cunningham are pretty much the same caliber and neither one has performed. I don't think it matters who was drafted first but the play on the field that matters. Lets talk in December and see who the real man is. Look at Brady drafted in late rounds could Clemmens be the man in New York?
Vince Young is more than just an athelete. During his days in Texas he was being ridiculed about his arm. So what does he do? He goes and get's quarter back rating, even higher than Leinart, who has been praised from day one. People say that Young can't handle pressure. That's bullcrap. He came back three times against oklahoma state, came back against ohio state, in ohio state, came back aganst michigan in the rose bowl, and came back against usc, for that national championship, which was supposedly the best college team ever. That's a lot of pressure and he hadled them all perfectly.
CLEARLY BOTH QUARTERBACKS HAD ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN DIFFERENT AREAS, BUT I JUST THINK VINCE YOUNG IS USED TO RUNNING AROUND COLLEGE KIDS AND THAT WONT CUT IT IN THE NFL, IF YOU TAKE OUT HIS RUNNING GAME HE IS LIMITED, I CAN SEE YOUNG IN ANOTHER NFL POSITION BESIDES QB. YOUNG WAS TOO BIG FOR THE USC DEFENDERS AT THE ROSEBOWL,(WOULDNT BE THE CASE IN THE NFL) IF LEINART WOULD HAVE PLAYED A HIGHSCHOOL TEAM, HE WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME. THE THING IS THAT LEINART DOESNT DEPEND ON RUNNING, HE ACTUALLY DEPENDS ON HIS TEAMMATES, THEREFORE HAVING THE BETTER CHANCES OF SUCCESS IN THE NFL.
Is Vince young good? Yes. Is matt leinart better, yes. Both are the best out of college and will have a different experiance in the NFL. Leinart has been blessed once again with talent surrounding him. Whoever thinks that Vince Young will ever win a superbowl has to analyze that he is on a rebuilding tenessee team. Young and Leinart will sell out crowds but at the end of it Matt Leinart will be the true winner and Vince Young will be the answer to a trivia question. Leinart has what the Nfl needs, which is a smart mind and a modest ego--pair that with his talent, then you have yourself a winner.
Czar ####...can't you EVER get your facts straight about New Orleans????????..or are you so intent on being cute, that you blithely make up facts about the city..a city that desperatley is trying to recover from the worst natural disaster in American history..but you giggle at its suffering and make your ignorant comments...
just by reading ESPN you might have found out that the Saints are about to SELL OUT season tickets for the year...yep..have already sold over 55,000...so what was the poi nt of your blog, again??? oh, and while Orleans Parish may only have 200,000 people in it, the metro afrea currently has about 1.2 MILLION people...would that have been so hard to look up? (which is larger than a number of other NFL teams) were you purposeful or just careless? Please don't "report" on New Orleans anymore..unless you want it's blood on your hands...
You know, this is getting really freakin old man. Back off of the Saints. You obviously have a problem with the town, the people and the team. Not everyone hates them as much as you obviously do. The owner is not perfect, there WERE some rumours of the team moving, the people of New Orleans and the fans everywhere dont need some barber shop #### going around spreading more rumours. It's ridiculous. They signed Bush, get over it. The town is rebuilding, bigger and better than ever. The team is is rebuilding bigger and better than ever. And if you think the Superdome wont sell out, your not nearly as smart as you would like to think.
We can all sit here and play NFL scout. But from what I understand there was not a team out there that had Young higher on their list than Leinart. Basically because Young is a project and Leinart comes NFL style and almost ready to play. The sole reason the Titans opted for Young is because Bud Adams is enamored with Texas and insisted on picking with his heart instead of his brain. That's how most people lose money at the sportsbook, and that's how Bud Adams will ultimately lose out on the better QB. Fisher, Reese, and Norm Chow all made it clear they wanted Leinart, but obviously were overuled. It's possible that Young could be trainable but "one read and run" doesn't cut it in the NFL. From what he has shown so far it looks like a long road ahead for Tennessee, and an early Christmas gift for Arizona.
Of course the teams backed off due to the Paris Hilton debacle. Leinart would have to be a mature adult leading men in the NFL and a mature adult calling plays cannot be distracted by a child-woman at home. This absurd social move is a reflection of his mental state and his mental state could be one closer to being a child than being a man. One would never see one the likes of Troy Aikman or Dan Fouts pulling a rookie stunt such as hooking up with a pathetic child-woman. Aikman and Fouts would put football first while Leinart appears to put his outside life out there as if he is in a fishbowl. VYoung looks much more mature than Leinart at this time. Leinart had better get a grip or he will drop out faster than JHarrington. Do we all remember a certain loser Cleveland Indian's pitcher and a sad-sack New York Met who both were married to child-women who were tearing up their sports careers by fouling up their heads? Matt Leinart is looking like a teenage loser.
Well since I'm a Raven's fan through and through and have a QB called Boller Maybe I should keep my mouth shut,But I won't so here goes'.Vince Young came out in his junior year Matt Lienert opted to go another year,Lienert was in a Pro ball Offence Young wasn't both have good coaches in the Pro rank's.The Titan's want Mcnair to mentor him for a year which is a good thing because the NFL is alot faster,Lienert is ready now but it's a #### shoot who will be the better QB.Look at the conference there in,the weapon's they have to make them better.Lienert will be the better QB because of the weapon's he has to throw to.bertraven278@msn.com
I do think all the hollywood drama with lienart scared a few teams off, i heard he was already talking about making movies and the sort and then i heard about paris hilton...wow, is he a movie star or an athlete, just get in the game Matt and do well.
VY mulitple superbowls?????? You must be out of your minds. Just ask Vick how easy it is to win when you're the best college QB. Doesn't matter how good your college career is, you need the other horses and AZ will have them.
Everyone is afraid to say it so I'll say it....Vince Young is a mental midget. If they had to dumb down the play book at Texas for him what do you think they will need to do for him in the NFL? Like Vick he will have flashes of great play but overall he won't be a winner. They don't give these draft picks an intelligence test just for kicks.
I want to take this time to thank all of the people for commenting on this idiots' apparent hatred of New Orleans. He is proof that anyone can call him/her self a reporter. Benson isn't the best owner that is true but it appears that he is staying in Louisiana. I can accept comments about the Saints but unless you have been to NO you really don't know what's up. It will take time but we will make it back. Maybe the light finally went off in Bensons' head and he is willing to do what it takes to win.
Two of the Czar's last three articles have been him getting his rocks off on the Saints' possibly moving to L.A. Great idea, let's move a team from a town that lives for football, one in which recovery will be heavily aided by the team's presence, to a city that could care less about the sport. I have no idea how the suites are selling, but we're going to be close to selling out ~70k seats. The draw Bush brings on a national level should help make up for any lack of local ad revenue. Other than that, great work man! Good luck with being an overweight senior citizen.
Give me a break. There has hardly been a more "Hollywood" QB than ‘Broadway Joe’ who, other than that one Super Bowl birth was quite average. We are talking about a quarterback who managed to throw more touchdowns than interceptions only TWICE in his 13-year NFL career and never completed more than 52.9 percent of his passes. This is the guy who is considered great by so many?
All you need to know about Matt Leinart is that he is a talented quarterback. He didn't have the trouble that Marcus Vick had. There is no history of drugs that I know of. He had a lot of talent around him and he succeeded most of the time. NFL players for years have maximized their football popularity for “arm candy” by the way of actresses and models, movie rolls, business ventures, and even political aspirations. Did anyone call Steve Largent “Hollywood”? How about #### Butkus?
Paris Hilton is famous as well as rich. But why should it affect his draft stock because of who he is dating as long as it is a female (not to be homophobic, but homosexuality would definitely be unpopular in an NFL locker room, ESPECIALLY from a guy who spends so much time underneath another guys butt!). You want to question why his draft stock plummeted? Fine. Question his leadership capabilities. Question his arm strength. Question his potential growth. Question the firing of his agent less than two weeks from the draft. Question his ability to differentiate between a man-to-man, cover-2, or a zone-dog defense. But to question the female he is dating is preposterous.
He is a “hot man” in the spotlight. Being the “hot man” in the spotlight is the same reason Reggie Bush went pro. It is the same reason Scott Mitchell and Alvin Harper asked for so much in free agency. Because they were hot and they were trying to cash in on their stardom. Who can blame them? Now I am not comparing Leinart’s potential success to either one of those guys, but blaming the cheerleader girlfriend for the star quarterback’s nosedive is about as baseless as you can get. There are only two things Leinart didn’t do in his senior season that he did in his Heisman campaign: win the National Championship and play defense so he could stop Vince Young.
I am not sold on Vince Young or the over-hyped Jay Cutler having anywhere near as much potential as Matt Leinart. But nobody called San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker “Hollywood” after he made Eva Longoria his sweetie, did they? The only thing you can judge Leinart on in the case of Ms. Hilton is a questionable judgment in women. But what is there to question when the woman is famous as well as rich? NFL teams in their attempt to weed out the next Maurice Clarett are merely grasping at straws. The “experts” were wrong about Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith both considered too slow to be high first round picks. They were wrong about the arm strength of Joe Montana and Tom Brady. I hope they are wrong again this time, too.
VY is better than ML for many reasons but thats not why i'm writing this. REGGIE BUSH was completely shut down by a mediocre texas defense. if they can stop him then so can any nfl team. i think lendale white should have went before bush. he is more of a pro style runner. speaking of white didn't he goto tenn also? so it looks loike vince may not have to rely on running. but even if he does every once in a while, he was a far better runner in college that vick or culpepper so why even compare vince to those guys? and i have quite a prediction. brodie croyle will end up starting for kc by next season. he is more of a pro qb than college. if it weren't for him blowing out his knee 2 years ago he would have probably went in the second round. wait and see if he doesn't suprise every1.
Why do you want a team in L.A. so bad? They had two teams and didn't support either of them. Did your wife leave you for a New Orleans man or what? I mean ,what do you have against New Orleans?
I'd like to add my voice to the chorus of disapproval emanating from Saints fans; I'm originally from New Orleans and now live in Los Angeles. If the Saints were ever to be ripped from the city that has supported them through 40 seasons and only one playoff victory, a city whose mood rises and falls each week based on the team's fortunes, and brought here to this town full of frontrunners and bandwagon-jumpers who disavow any association with their teams the minute their record drops below .500, I think it would add to the already crippled psyche of New Orleans. Find another team to gossip about, Czarnecki, because- while I'm not naive enough to suggest that these things aren't about money- maybe, just maybe, if the Saints can remain profitable in NOLA, Los Angeles can find another team to throw it's millions (or billions) at.
The NFL fans in the USA should humor themselves and visit the neighborhood where the infamous LA Coliseum still suffers through the area's culture today. A night game is out of the question. Check the police records for this neighborhood and you will find that LA is no place for the NO Saints to play now or in the future. Where would a person safely park a car? It is tantamount to taking in a game in the Cabrini Green area of Chicago. The LA Coliseum area is no place to entertain physically soft clients or young family members. It is uncler whether or not the Raider Nation would be capable of defending itself there. That weak-minded QB that donned a USC uniform the last few years must have had his right tackle escort him to the stadium each Saturday.
Hey, you can just forget about not selling out the Dome...it's a done deal....the Saints are staying...so just get over them moving to Los Ang....it's not HAPPENING!!!!!!!
Both Leinart and Young are talented quarterbacks, but it's way to premature to determine who got the better end of the deal in the draft. Young is going to have to learn to be able to compose himself in the pocket though or he's gonna end up splattered all over the field like loser Vick.
As for Leinart and Paris, since when does who you date have anything to do with how you play football? Get real people. That's such a non issue and Paris will throw him away soon enough. He's just the flavor of the month.
i personaly dont belive either ML or VY have enough talent around them to win a super bowl like arizona has horrible defense and tennesees line is decent at best i think they wont be winning a superbowl any time soon. but i do belive that jay cutler might be able to so something in denver or maybe hes an over rated loser
Quit hating on my hometown you sorry excuse for a reporter! Take a minute from your deep fried, chocolate coated, quadruple whopper and realize that your crazy rantings are pissing off all the Saints fans reveling in the acquisitions of Reggie Bush and Drew Brees in the offseason. Quit raining on our parade! #### Off!
I am a former resident in New Orleans and am a die-hard Saints fan even now that I'm in Vick country. Nonetheless, I have to acknowledge that New Orleans is in jeopardy of losing the Saints without a new stadium. The Superdome has seats in the upper level where a fan cannot even see the entire field of play. The suites are also very lousy. Unless they build a new stadium in Algiers or close the Superdome down for EXTENSIVE renovations (play at LSU for a year maybe), they are gone in a few years. End of story. Sad, but true.
First of all, Vince Young had been doing what he did in the Rose Bowl for three years everygame. Just for starters look at the Michigan and Ohio State games. Second off all, Matt Leinart was a product of a sytem at USC. The Trojans could have won there 2 championships with a myriad of other quarterbacks, but obviously the same cant be said for the horns. Young has a higher upside, but only time will tell if he'll show the same poise in passing game in the nfl that he showed at Texas. He'll be an effective runner, but if he relies on it too much, he's liable to have an injury plagued career.
All you who say that Vince will be the better NFL quarterback is out of your mind! Yeah, he won the Rose Bowl...whoop-de-freakin'-do. Remind me again...who won the two previous Rose Bowls? That's right. MATT LEINHART! He is a proven winner and is going to a better team in the Arizona Cardinals. Not only is Young on a terrible team but Leinhart's division is absolutely horrible. Leinhart currently has more success and will continue to have more success than the over-rated Vince Young. Young needs to learn how to be a team player and not try to do everything himself. Leinhart is a team player, knows how to play multiple styles of football, and will be the better NFL quarterback.
Czar you are so Right in everything you said And leinart all he does is win and make big plays...As for New Orleans come on how can you people talk about him blasting them come on now these are the same people who wore paperbags on there heads real supporters they called there own team The Aints...point is that team is a circus and a failure and Bush should want out and they should go to LA because thats where money is and that what it is about it is a business and New Orleans aint helping any with there bandwagon fans
Oh so many "smarties" who know the best one or why this one is better than that one. How many first round bust does it take for people to wait until they get their chance to play to see how either one will do. Vince may be a great player but does that mean he can be a pro quarterback. Better wait till you see what happens before letting the mouth run away from you.
First of all..dont ever compare Randall Cunningham to Micheal Vick..cause micheal vick cant pass..randall cunningham on the other hand has better passing numbers than most hall of fame quarterbacks..he also won 3 mvp's so anyway..as far as vince young..i see him as a better version of randall cunningham because he's more of a pocket passer..and he has the arm and zip and accuracy for the crucial intermidiate passes5 to 15 yard throws and we know thats what the new nfl offenses are all about..now Lienart to me is a 2nd bit drew bledsoe without the arm..yeah he can make reads sometimes..but his arm strength is suspect and with out a superstar tightend like drew had..he's gonna be exposed because his deep ball is slow and it lingers and hangs in the air..good thing new york didnt draft him because his throws couldnt handle the wind..he's in a good situation in arizona because he has a good running game like he had in college to keep him from looking like the booby he really is..but if he can get the play action going..and find an good slot reciever he will look good..but without a tight end or a slot reciever he's gonna look like bum sauce..and kurt warner is gonna have his job for a long time..arizona should have taken cutler..they would have been vicious with him..now they got this soft armed none mobile qb...i wonder what madden is gonna put as his arm strength..i bet its like88..maybe worst
This so called NFL czar must not realize that the Chargers are much closer to moving to LA than the Saints are, being from LA I would think you would be aware of the Chargers stadium situation. True the Saints stadium situation isn't much better, just be watching on Monday Night Sept. 27 and everyone in America will see the true spirit of Saints fans. Besides the Texans gave N.O. the best Christmas present in the 40 year history of the franchise my picking "Super Mario" with the first overall pick. Thank You Charlie Casserly, Thank You Very Much!!!!!!!
John Czarnecki, a former sportswriter with over 20 years experience covering the NFL, has been the editorial consultant for the Emmy Award-winning FOX NFL Sunday since its 1994 inception. Prior, he provided exclusive information to CBS Sports' The NFL Today program from 1991 to 1993, holding a similar position.
Prior to joining CBS Sports, Czarnecki was a pro football writer for The National Sports Daily (1989-91), The Dallas Morning News (1989), and The Los Angeles Herald-Examin er. An archive of work can be found here.
