As you well know, I like to start off my Wednesdays with a little young QB action. And today is no exception.

Andrew Luck vs. Colin Kaepernick: who would win in a fight?

Okay, that’s not actually what this article is about. Instead, it asks which QB is superior, especially looking down the road. But be honest, now you want to know who would win in a fight.

No money, mo’ problems seems to be ESPN’s theme this week. According to reports, ESPN is laying off as many as 400 employees to increase profit margins. Luckily, some of our favorite ESPN writers have already demonstrated that they possess certain “skills” outside of “writing about sports.” This includes Rick Reilly’s poetry (now graded by a seventh grade teacher!) and Darren Rovell’s tweets (and even better, all the replies Rovell’s tweets get – which now have their own Twitter account!).

Speaking of money, the NFL granted a $200 million loan for construction of the new Atlanta Falcons stadium yesterday. This NFL.com post says “The Falcons received the money Tuesday at the NFL Spring Meeting” and now I’m just picturing Tony Gonzalez carrying around briefcases full of dollar bills.

While at their annual Spring Meeting, the NFL also awarded upcoming Super Bowls to San Francisco (2016) and Houston (2017).

Additionally, the NFL discussed more “humane” ways to handle player cuts, which I, as an emotional consumer of Hard Knocks, completely agree with!

And finally, in random news: Tony Romo had a cyst and Microsoft is bringing it’s technology to the sideline…and beyond!

Happy Wednesday! As a special bonus, enjoy this post about the 20 Types of Depressing Sports Fans.

Emily Ritter is a contributing writer to Aerys Offsides. Her 7th grade poetry was excellent. Follow her on Twitter @ebritter2.

What’s that, it’s Wednesday already? Sorry I didn’t notice, I was too busy staring at this:

In case you’re blind, that’s 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick. Now might be a good time to join Instagram or start saving money for ESPN’s Body Issue.

I’m definitely ready for football season now. So is the NFL, apparently, as they released the preseason schedule yesterday.

ESPN is also ready for football season (and not just because it can show more shirtless players). Yesterday, they announced a new show to start in August called “NFL Insiders” which focuses on NFL news stories and information. So basically what I do here, but with less shirtless men? The catch is that former players and coaches aren’t allowed in the treehouse on the show. NFL32 has been cut to make room for this insider take on the league. (How many times am I allowed to mention shirtless players before my non-existent football guru status is revoked?)

What are NFL players allowed to do since they can’t be on ESPN’s new show? They can become boxers! At least that’s what former Minnesota Vikings/Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Ray Edwards did. In this interesting interview, he asserts that boxing is actually safer than football. His ideas sure do pack a punch.

That’s right, some of us don’t discriminate in our usage of former NFL players. Bonus points go to anyone who can read what that belt says (it’s not “6 pack” because I already tried that).

Because it’s Wednesday and you need something to get you over the hump, I’ll leave you with two links. One is for shirtless football players on Tumblr, as this Blitz has taken a drastic turn in that direction. And the second is for the Tumblr “Sports Balls Replaced with Cats” which is exactly what it sounds like:

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Emily Ritter is a contributing writer for Aerys Offsides. She never tweets about shirtless athletes (yeah right!) at @ebritter2.

What would the Morning Blitz be without a daily Tim Tebow story? Or three?

Incomplete, right? (There’s a joke in there somewhere…)

Lucky for you there’s plenty of SUPER important Tim Tebow news and information to go around today. Here’s all the latest:

First, some lawyer dude from Jacksonville named John Morgan launched a campaign urging Shad Kahn and the Jaguars to sign Tebow. (You can check out the ad here, courtesy of Deadspin. It’s pretty genius).

Then, despite Morgan’s ads, the Jaguars – and their GM David Caldwell – once again insisted that they are not interested in signing the high-profile quarterback, even with their own very messy situation quarterback situation.

A few short hours later, CBS Sports’ national columnist Gregg Doyel released a column explaining how Tebow’s fans “loved his career to death.” It’s a very interesting perspective on Tebow-mania that is well worth a read.

Oh, but that’s not all. Finally, we had Mike Ditka weighing in on the quarterback, explaining his belief that Tebow can, in fact, play quarterback in the NFL. Yes, this was big major news on Wednesday. Pretty groundbreaking stuff, huh?

Although Tebow is currently a free agent and very much without an NFL team to call his own, he was recently named Forbes magazine’s most influential American athlete. And that explains why this is all news. Influence and stuff.

Bucs DB Ronde Barber will retire on Thursday.

Ronde Barber To Officially Retire

According to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, defensive back Ronde Barber plans announced that he will officially retire from the NFL in a press conference tomorrow at 2 pm EST.

Barber played his entire 16-year NFL career in Tampa Bay. He is the franchise leader in interceptions and defensive touchdown returns.

Levi’s Stadium Proposed As New Home For 49ers 

On Wednesday, the San Francisco 49ers announced that Levi Strauss & Co. had purchased the right to put its name on the 49ers’ new 68,500-seat stadium. As part of the acquisition, the company plans to construct a brand new, $1.2 billion stadium for the team, called Levi’s Stadium, which will open next year.

“Levi’s jeans were designed for the 49ers during the Gold Rush,” 49ers CEO Jed York said on Wednesday. “It was a good fit for them then and it’s a good fit today.”

*Insert generic un-funny jeans related dad joke here*

The 49ers new stadium is currently viewed as the favorite to host Super Bowl L in 2016.

Other News:

• Veteran running back Felix Jones is scheduled to visit with the New England Patriots, according to Ian Rapoport. Jones had a visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday.
• In a press conference with the media on Wednesday, Jags GM David Caldwell explained that the team plans to give former Michigan QB Denard Robinson 10-15 snaps per a game as a rusher or receiver. He will also receive kickoffs.
• Former Lions WR Titus Young was arrested TWICE in the same day on Sunday, first for suspicion of driving under the influence and later for burglary.  No need to pile on — no comment is needed on this story.
• Free agent WR Josh Cribbs visited with the Jets on Wednesday, per Pro Football Talk.

Kristine Reese the NFL editor and lead Jets writer for Aerys Sports. You can follow her on Twitter @KristineReese.

Jim-Harbaugh

Jim Harbaugh Plays Favorites

It looks like the San Francisco 49ers fourth round pick Quinton Patton was a little excited to be drafted. He purchased a plane ticket to San Francisco to be with the team. There’s just one problem. Rookies aren’t allowed in the facility until rookie minicamp on May 10. Patton was told to go home.

Jim Harbaugh was asked about this incident and he said, ““He is already my favorite guy. Isn’t that awesome?”

You can read more on this story here.

49ers Sign Olympian

The San Francisco 49ers have signed Olympic discus finalist Lawrence Okoye as an undrafted free agent. Funny thing is that Okoye has never played football before. The 49ers plan to train him as a defensive lineman.

You can read more on this story here.

Now that’s a haircut you can set your watch to!

It is another Sunday, which means it is probably breakfast time. Here are some fun and interesting reads for your morning.

In Baltimore, it looks like Joe Flacco will be taking part in a movie, or moving pictures for those in the “business.” The Baltimore Sun reported Saturday night Flacco would be playing Johnny Unitas in a couple of scenes for a movie about Unitas. Whether or not this means Flacco will get a flat top haircut remains to be seen.

Last week, we didn’t post much in Aerys content, but this week is different. Over at Halftime Voodoo, there’s a terrific article and interview with Battle Sports Science.

Meanwhile, at the Dawg Pound, the site says farewell to several players leaving the Browns, including quarterback Colt McCoy.

In Dallas, much of the talk is still about the Tony Romo contract extension. Well, DeMarcus Ware has a few things to say about this contract extension.

In Oakland, the Raiders released Rolando McClain Friday. Oakland has made lots of changes as of late. Read the Silver Lining for more on the Raiders.

With the NFL Draft coming up later this month, NFL.com is publishing a team by team list of the best and worst draft picks.

Speaking of the NFL Draft, it looks like the sons of Joe Montana and Cris Carter will be making appearances at the super regional combine.

Over at NFL.com, the finals of their bracketology best play ever thingy or whatever is going on now. The choice is between the DeSean Jackson punt return for a touchdown against the New York Giants and the Steve Young playoff touchdown run against the Minnesota Vikings. Voting will continue until Tuesday.

Looking for a shopping item, well you can purchase this 49ers bedding sheet set on eBay.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Cartoon screencaps, because why not… (Via YouTube)

We’re closing in on the month of April, which means we are just a couple weeks away from the NFL Draft. But for now, let’s just get to the other news.

The Buffalo Bills added a quarterback to their roster Saturday night. They signed former Arizona quarterback Kevin Kolb to a two year deal, worth $13 million, according to various media sources. What this means for the quarterback situation, I’m not really sure. We’ll know after the NFL Draft though.

In other free agent news, the Miami Dolphins signed cornerback Brent Grimes to a contract Saturday. Grimes missed the entire season last year after injuring his Achilles tendon in week one.

Of course, the big talk of the weekend has been about Tony Romo’s contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys. If you’re expecting me to comment on namesake’s contract extension, I won’t give you that pleasure. If you want hot sprots takes in regards to Romo, well just go somewhere else for them. » Continue reading “Sunday Morning Blitz: Kolb to Buffalo, Grimes to Miami”

Anquan Boldin is the newest member of the San Francisco 49ers and he is today’s Tight End Tuesday!

Boldin was drafted in the second round by the Arizona Cardinals with the 54th overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft out of Florida State. He played for them until being traded to the Baltimore Ravens in 2010. On March 12, 2013, Boldin was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a sixth-round draft pick.
Boldin was the 2003 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and has been selected to three Pro Bowls.

Wants some more photos? I got you covered!

» Continue reading “Tight End Tuesday: Anquan Boldin”

Anquan Boldin

By now everyone is well aware of the deal struck by the two Super Bowl XLVII rivals yesterday that sent Baltimore Ravens receiver Anquan Boldin to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a 2013 6th round draft pick. The deal came on the heels of the announcement that the NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks had acquired receiver/kick returner Percy Harvin from the Minnesota Vikings for 3 draft picks, including a 2013 first rounder. It’s safe to say the NFC West just got a heck of a lot more interesting.

While the acquisition of Harvin adds an incredibly explosive option for young QB Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense, the addition of Boldin doesn’t seem to have addressed the needs of the 49ers offense. Harvin had been linked to the 49ers in recent weeks, and would have provided that deep threat and playmaking ability from the slot that the team needed. But it wasn’t meant to be, and the Seahawks saw fit to pony up their first pick this year in order to bring in the discontented Harvin.

Anquan Boldin showed the 49ers first hand in the Super Bowl that he’s still got some ability left in the tank, and there is no questioning that he can be a useful piece in the 49ers offense, but does he really make them that much better? A lot of that will hinge on what happens with number two TE Delanie Walker who is heading for free agency. Theoretically Boldin will take the place of Randy Moss on the depth chart, although he lacks the speed that even a mid-30′s version of Moss possesses.

So the question is, with Randy Moss moving on, and Delanie Walker as well, would Anquan Boldin and perhaps a rookie tight end like Zach Ertz from Stanford or Tyler Eifert from Notre Dame equal more than what Walker and Moss would? I have my doubts.

Boldin is a good receiver, and he can make difficult catches in coverage that many others would not be able to, but he seems like he’s just more of the same type of player as Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis, only slower. My hope for the offseason was that they would add someone who could make some plays down the field and give Colin Kaepernick the option of throwing the deep ball more often, so either they don’t plan on utilizing that aspect of his skillset, or they have enough faith in A.J. Jenkins to fill that role despite being nonexistent in his rookie campaign.

The offseason is still young, and things may change, but right now I have to give this trade a crystal clear “meh.”

Anquan Boldin

Anquan Boldin didn’t want to settle for less than he thought he was worth. So the Baltimore Ravens have reportedly traded him to the San Francisco 49ers for a sixth round draft pick.

A big fat thanks to a guy that helped lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl win just a few weeks ago.

The Ravens did need the salary cap relief, however.

The Super Bowl champs decided to give Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco a huge pay day with his six-year contract worth over $120 million. While, the Elite One did deserve a pay day for his performance, it’s looking more ridiculous when a team has to move its arguably best receiver to make salary cap room. Considering Flacco will probably go back to his mediocre self in Week One of the 2013 season.

Oh well. The Ravens won the Super Bowl this year. That’s all that matters, obviously.

Win when you can!

Per NFL.com:

Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome came up with a solution that could strengthen a fierce competitor while leaving his team worse off in the long run. NFL.com’s Albert Breer reported Monday, citing a Ravens source, that Boldin will be traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a 2013 sixth-round draft pick. A 49ers source told Breer that the deal is done.

The Baltimore Sun first reported the trade. Per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, the trade will not be official until Boldin — currently on an African mission — passes a physical.

Breer also reported that there will be no alteration to Boldin’s salary in 2013 — he still is set to make $6 million this season. A 49ers source told Breer that the sides might consider something later.

The 49ers weren’t the only team interested in Boldin, Rapoport reported Monday. According to a Ravens source, Baltimore also discussed a Boldin trade with the Minnesota Vikings. But the Vikings didn’t offer as much as the Niners, according to Rapoport.

 

Three years ago, Newsome netted Boldin and a fifth-round pick from the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for a third- and fourth-round pick. Playoff hero or no, Newsome did well to collect a draft pick for a player about to enter the declining phase of his career. Boldin wasn’t going to see his $6 million salary, in which case the Ravens would have simply released him on Tuesday.

From the Niners’ point of view, Boldin fills a major need for a reliable receiver opposite Michael Crabtree while casting doubt on Mario Manningham’s future in San Francisco. It also suggests the 49ers envision another red-shirt year for 2012 first-rounder A.J. Jenkins, who barely saw the field as a rookie.

The trade from one Harbaugh brother to another speaks volumes about the respect Boldin carried in Baltimore. Now he returns to his familiar stomping grounds in the NFC West.

For more on this deal from the Ravens perspective, please check out The Purple Nest!

It is time for another Sunday, which means it is almost Monday, which means you’re probably clinging to your bed frame and don’t even want to think about Monday.

For those of you that want to actually enjoy your Sunday, we do have the Blitz for all your breakfast readings.

The big story around the NFL is the impending free agency funfest. It is so popular to talk about the start of free agency period. In fact, if you go to the NFL website, you’ll see a countdown clock to the start of free agency. At NFL.com, you’ll see free agency lists galore, including the top 85 free agents list, which was compiled by Gregg Rosenthal, who has been busy with the Around the League blog. They’ll be a very good source for you to read leading up to the start of free agency.

But there were a few interesting stories that popped up Saturday.

In Pittsburgh, the Steelers wished linebacker James Harrison well as they released him Saturday afternoon, reports Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Harrison has played 10 seasons in the NFL, all with the Steelers. Harrison won two Super Bowls with the Steelers. Make sure to check out the Aerys site Steel City Blitz for all the latest on the Steelers offseason.

A big story started to brew in Minneapolis Saturday night as Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune is reporting that Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin doesn’t want to be in Minnesota anymore. Harvin reportedly told the team he wanted to be traded. Read the Skol Patrol for the latest on the Percy Harvin situation. » Continue reading “Sunday Morning Blitz: Free Agency Stuff”