Random stuff, NBA Draft, Draft rumors, NFL trades, M's

Lots of stuff going on in the past 24 hours.
Matt Schaub Deal and Implications:
The biggest of which is Matt Schaub being traded from the Falcons to the Houston Texans. The Texans then signed him to a 6 year $48 million dollar contract. $20 million is in the first three years, so it's backloaded, and $7 million is guaranteed so he would be an easy cut. Even so, that's a huge contract for a guy who has only 84 completions in his first three years in the NFL. What's even worse is the Texans had to swap their first round pick, which was their 8th pick for the Falcon's 10th pick, their 2nd round pick, and their 2nd round pick next year. So they lose ground in the first round and give up 2 2nd round picks to give an enormously overpaid contract to a guy who's done nothing. Personally, I don't see whats wrong with Carr, he has had a horrible line and it took him 3 years to stopped getting sacked at record rates, he has no tight end, and no running back, yet he still has a QB rating of 82, which is pretty good considering he had more INT than TD because of an overall poor offense.
The Falcons meanwhile are rumored to be wanting to trade up to get Calvin Johnson, a "hometown hero". Another big mistake, as Michael Vick cannot pass to anybody anyways. I think Calvin Johnson's overated, more on that later, but I don't think Vick needs another WR. He had 3 first round WR and Alge Crumpler last year and did nothing with them.
Another rumor is that the Raiders will trade for Carr, then draft Calvin Johnson, the guy they really wanted, which I think would be a solid idea. Buy Carr while Houston needs to get rid of him, and get the guy they really want, because I'm not sold on JaMarcus Russell anyways. I'd get rid of Randy Moss and Jerry Porter first because they would probably try to "mentor" Calvin by making him smoke weed or hold out in negotiations.
Ben Broussard Rumor:
ESPN has a rumor that the M's were looking at Armando Benitez long and hard. The rumor is that we'd trade Broussard for him. I like this idea because Broussard isn't going to get any playing time. He's a pretty good lefty, but it doesn't do any good because he won't play with Vidro blocking the way. Broussard is hitting something like .350 this spring training, so his stock is decently high. Problem for the Giants is, is that I've seen him play 1b, and he could be the worst fielder I've ever seen. He doesn't know how to field, throw or catch. Not a real problem for the Mariners, but a big problem for an NL team like the Giants. Armando Benitez on the other hand is dong well in spring training, and he is a "proven veteran" and has closed before. I don't think O'Flaherty or Huber are ready yet, so getting Armando would give them more time to hone their skills in Tacoma. Also, I do think that Morrow could do well not, but Benitez would put less stress on bringing Morrow up. No sense in bringing him up early so we can use him when he's not that great because his major league clock would be ticking early and he'd be a free agent earlier than we'd want. I'ms pretty sure that Reitsma will suck, so Benitez also gives us more bullpen depth for when Hargrove also realizes this in late August. Benitez would also be good trade bait to a team like the Red Sox in July because they'd need a closer by then after realizing that Pineiro is not the answer, though I always thought that if Minnesota were smarter, they'd give their bull pen arms some save opportunities and then trade them away once they proved they had a "closer's mentality", sort of like the A's did with Keith Foulke, Jason Isringhausen, and Billy Koch (ha, I almost forgot about this guy).
M's TV Contract:
M's are about to sign a TV contract with FSN for 10 years around $300 million dollars (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/308521_mari22.html). USSM suggests that because the M's are one of the more profitable franchises, we should have a Mariner's network to hide profit for profit-sharing (http://ussmariner.com/2007/03/22/the-ms-fsn-deal/). I agree with this, because doing this seems like the next big thing. A decade ago it was building big stadiums that had luxury boxes, and designs built to make money, now it could be having your own networks. If FSN is paying Houston $600 million for 15 years of NBA and MLB, than $300 million sounds reasonable to me, so I don't agree that the M's could get more. I always hate when fans think they know everything. Sure management gets stuff wrong when evaluating player talent, but I"m pretty sure the guys at Fox and the Mariners know what the TV contract is worth, and what good business relationships are worth. I'm going to trust that the deal is the best thing for both sides.
Seahawks and Briggs:
Drew Rosenhaus apparently mentioned Seattle as a possible destination for Lance Briggs according to s Seattle PI article (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/football/308488_hawk22.html?source=mypi). Though the article bashes the idea, I think if we have the money, go ahead and do it. LeRoy Hill is more of a "playmaker" in the sense that he gets sacks and ints, but he isn't a solid steady presence for tackling short routes and runs around the tackles (though he does have the skills do do this). With Peterson already filling that role, a guy like Briggs would help. he only had 2 sacks and 1 int, but is regarded by some as a top 5 defensive player behind Champ Bailey, Jason Taylor, Brian Urlacher, and Shawne Merriman. I already think we have the best linebacking trio in the league, but this could put us in contention for best ever. Our line problem is a different story, and if Tubbs is out for longer due to injury, drafting or signing a big DT (350 pound big, none of those undersized Darby-like DT) would really solidify our run defense.
Josh McRoberts:
Josh McRoberts is going to the NBA. If everyone who is border-line to declare declares, then he'll be a late lottery pick I think. I certainly wouldn't pick him though. If Hansbrough, who most agree will be nothing more than a Corliss Williamson type dominates him every time they match up, how will he do against guys like Bosh, Jermaine O'Neal, and even Troy Murphy? I personally think Hansbrough could be a poor man's Malone (lifts a lot, great work ethic, never-ending motor, good feel for the game), but I'll talke about that during my March Madness post. I've seen his flashes of brilliance, and I have to say that he could be very good. He is a very good dunker, I believe he got 2nd in the HS dunk contest, he is a great passer when he wants to be, he has an outside shot, and he can be a block machine, but he makes too many mental mistakes, doesn't have that killer instinct, and doesn't seem to take over. His freshman year, it made sense that he didn't do much because of JJ and Shelden, but this year he played almost the same role when every sign pointed toward him being "the Man" on the team. I don't know if another year at Duke would help, because I think the longer he stays in college, the more exposure his flaws will receive, but I do think he will be a bust. I'd say his ceiling is Bogut, median is Keith Van Horn right now, and cellar is Mark Madsen mixed with Fred Hoiberg. (Side note: Is it racist that I compared him to all white guys? No, thats what all the guys at ESPN and SI do anyways).
McCann's Deal:
Brian McCann signed a 6 year deal. Upon hearing 6 years, I figured it would be a Jose Reyes, David Wright, Chase Utley-type deal for about $50 or 60 million. Below market value, but since he didn't have much, if any, leverage for the next couple of years, the deal would be enough to make him happy. Well, the Braves got a steal because they signed him for just $26.8 million dollars. McCann hit .333 with 24 hrs in 130 games and his first full major league season and is only 23 years old right now. Anyways, good deal for the Braves, and McCann, being a Georgia native is probably just to be playing for his home team and getting a $4.4 million per year for the next 6 years.
Tubby Smith and Steve Alford Leave for "Lesser Schools":
Tubby Smith left Kentucky for Minnesota, and Steve Alford left Iowa for New Mexico. Kentucky is a traditional powerhouse up there with UNC, Duke, UConn, and Kansas, so it's weird that he's leaving. Tubby Smith has gone to the tournament 10 times in his 10 years at Kentucky, while going to the Elite 8 4 times. The fans do expect to much from him, and every time his team underachieves, fans call for his head, but Minnesota is a bottom feeder for major conference teams. He should have tried for a team like Michigan, where the pressure is also high, but has a better tradition, but I guess an annual salary of $1.8 million dollars with less pressure to succeed at such a high level is pretty enticing.
Alford left Iowa, a school he had built up to national prominence, for New Mexico, a school that was good with Danny Granger a few years ago in a "mid-major" conference. Alford won 2 Big Ten tournaments, and took Iowa to the Big Dance 3 times, so a coach of his reputation should have gone for better. Of course the salary isn't public knowledge yet, so that might have been a big factor.