SideLion Report » CBA

The Upcoming Task of Martin Mayhew

Nathan VanNorwick — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 19:00:37 +0000

In the NFL, a general manager has many core functions. He must have a vision of the type of team he wants to have, he must hire a coaching staff that can translate that vision to specific goals and objectives on the playing field, and he must evaluate players and find those that have the ability to fulfill the goals given to them. And just like you and me and our grocery bill, he must do all of this on a budget. He does all this while competing with other general managers for those same players and who want to succeed as badly as he does.

To me the most important of these jobs is to evaluate talent. It doesn’t matter if your vision is a strong defense and you are able to resurrect Vince Lombardi and hire him as your head coach, if you cannot evaluate a player properly you will not field a successful defense. From his coaches and the scouting department a general manager has a plethora of data available on every player, including everything from game tape to measurables obtained during the scouting combine and other player evaluations. He has salary cap experts that tell him his budget. Medical doctors analyze medical histories to determine the likelihood of injures. But it is the general manager’s job to use this data to decide, based on his budget, which players he wants, and how much it will take to get them. He has three main ways to obtain players– the draft, trades, and free agency. (more…)

Detroit Lions Kicking Off The 2011 NFL Season?

Ross Husson — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:00:45 +0000

Due to the never-ending lockout, the NFL is preparing for an eight game season. The season could start as late as the end of November and possibly Thanksgiving Day. For this plan to happen the labor negotiations would need to be solved by the middle of October. Before the games there would be five weeks for practice, free agency, and possibly a preseason game. If this situation occurs it might mean that the Detroit Lions would kickoff the NFL season with the annual Thanksgiving Day game.
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Scanning the Savanna

Zac Snyder — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 11:00:24 +0000

Clipped from: sports.espn.go.com (share this clip)

Quarterbacks make this league go round, and the improving Detroit Lions have a lot invested in their young signal-caller, Matthew Stafford.

From sports.espn.go.com (share this quote)

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