NFL News & Rumors Digest

The deal to send cornerback Asante Samuel to the Atlanta Falcons from the Philadelphia Eagles has been finalized, a source with expertise of the situation told NFL Network’s Albert Breer.

It’s not but known what the Falcons will send the Eagles in return for the nine-year veteran.

Samuel and the Falcons have agreed to terms on a 3-year, $ 18.five million deal.

Comply with Albert Breer on Twitter @AlbertBreer

(About:) This report was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For far more NFL news see: Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles complete Asante Samuel trade.

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NFL Network’s Albert Breer reported Saturday the Atlanta Falcons removed themselves from consideration for HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” meaning we’re back to the drawing board.

Exactly where to now? You won’t agree with a word of this, but here’s my best five:

1. Carolina Panthers — Two words: Cam Newton. The likelihood to watch one particular of the game’s most engaging young stars prepare for Year Two. The show hinges on head-coach charisma, and Ron Rivera has the moxie to pull this off. A young, driven team, utterly disappointed with last year’s record and anxious to show they’re far better than six-ten. Sign me up.

2. Washington Redskins — A year ago, if I had to choose among (a) nine straight hours of “Wheel of Fortune” blindfolded or (b) an equal amount of backroom Redskins footage with eyes wide open, we’re talking about a coin flip. This is the power of Robert Griffin III.

three. San Francisco 49ers — At February’s combine, watching Jim Harbaugh in actual time was a revelation: witty, irritated, humorous, brief with reporters and mystical, all wrapped into one. “Hard Knocks” couldn’t find a greater coach-reality star in 2012.

four. New York Giants — The Jets are fine tv, but if they’re unwilling to take one more swing at the show, let’s concentrate on the New York team tasked with defending the world championship, not just talking about a single.

5. New Orleans Saints — No one will go for this, but the name of this show is “Hard Knocks.” The skinny: A team that’s created grave errors, now forced to fight their way out of a corner. Fantastic character improvement. For the players and coaches inside this organization — the ones who had absolutely nothing to do with the “bounty” fiasco — this is the education camp I want to see.

32. Jacksonville Jaguars — I can’t come across anything compelling here. I know the gallant and mustachioed Shahid Khan is probably hot for this project, but (a) they’ve already been featured on a version of the show and (b) when was sufficient.

Honorable mention: Houston Texans, Denver Broncos (Manning wouldn’t touch it, Elway might) and the Indianapolis Colts.

We got this all incorrect, right?

(About:) This report was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For a lot more NFL news see: Five teams we’d like to see on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’.

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The Atlanta Falcons will not appear on the subsequent season of HBO’s Hard Knocks, league sources stated Saturday.

The decision was created by, amongst other people, owner Arthur Blank, common manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Mike Smith. They had been in agreement that the focus must be on football more than the summer, and they didn’t want anything to distract from that.

The Falcons were amongst a number of teams regarded as for the show, but they had been never formally offered, according to a supply close to the circumstance.

The Falcons reportedly had been the network’s very first selection once the New York Jets appeared to be disinterested in carrying out the show once more, and Dimitroff was non-committal on the topic when asked by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday.

“Right now, I have absolutely nothing to provide on that,” Dimitroff stated. “Like all of us, we’ve watched it more than the years and there have been some highlights,” Dimitroff mentioned. “There have been some highlights, no queries about that. It’s exciting Tv.”

Follow AlbertBreer on Twitter @AlbertBreer.

(About:) This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NFL news see: Atlanta Falcons pass on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ to concentrate on game.

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HBO has asked the Atlanta Falcons to star in the next installment of “Hard Knocks,” ESPN reported Wednesday.

ESPN cited many sources in reporting the offer, although HBO declined to comment.

Produced by NFL Films and HBO, “Hard Knocks” is a weekly series that follows one particular NFL team by means of instruction camp and the preseason.

FoxSports.com reported earlier Wednesday that HBO wanted the New York Jets to be featured on this year’s show, but coach Rex Ryan is against the notion. The Jets had been featured on the show in 2010.

A spokesman for the Jacksonville Jaguars confirmed to ” the Florida Times-Union that the Jaguars are interested in appearing on the show, but added, “we don’t know what HBO’s plans are.”

“Hard Knocks” didn’t air in 2011 since of the NFL lockout.

(About:) This post was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For much more NFL news see: Atlanta Falcons offered ‘Hard Knocks’ spot, according to report.

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The Atlanta Falcons still can repeat as NFC South champions this season, but they’ll have to figure out a way to beat the surging Saints in New Orleans on Monday night to do it.

This won’t be effortless, especially when you contemplate that Drew Brees and the Saints’ offense are on one of the most prolific rolls in current memory.

“You can’t cease them you’ve just got to slow them down,” Falcons coach Mike Smith stated Thursday, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Very good luck with that. Brees has looked unstoppable for significant stretches during the Saints’ six-game win streak. He’s coming off maybe the very best statistical game of his career (32 of 40, 412 yards, five TDs, INT) in a Week 15 blowout of the Vikings. He demands just 307 yards passing to break Dan Marino’s all-time single-season yardage mark.

“There is such great solid personnel about Drew, you’ve got to move into some other areas like what they like to do in certain conditions with specific personnel,” defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder stated. “You have to concentrate on circumstance football. But boy, there are too several productive players to focus in on 1 here or there. The scenarios will enable you to do that greater than just going in and saying ‘let’s quit Jimmy Graham’ or ‘let’s quit (Darren) Sproles.’ “

The Falcons (9-five) can take the division with wins more than the Saints and Buccaneers coupled with a New Orleans (11-four) stumble against Cam Newton and the Panthers in Week 17. The probabilities aren’t good, but there’s a chance nonetheless.

(About:) This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NFL news see: Falcons’ Smith relies on bend-don’t-break method vs. Saints.

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Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has a high left ankle sprain, leaving his status for Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons in doubt.

Peterson was carted off the sideline for the duration of the second quarter of last Sunday’s 27-21 loss to the Oakland Raiders. Vikings coach Leslie Frazier told reporters Monday that Peterson sustained some ligament damage and will be in a walking boot for a couple of days. Peterson isn’t expected to even try to practice till Friday to establish if he’ll be in a position to play against the Falcons.

“The very good news is there is absolutely nothing more significant than that, the truth that it is an ankle sprain and he’ll recover from it,” Frazier said. “It’s just the matter of the amount of time he’ll miss, but we’ll have a greater indication towards the end of the week.”

Frazier wouldn’t commit to the notion that Peterson would have to be 100 percent healthy in order to play, saying the team would monitor his progress. Frazier added the Vikings’ record wouldn’t be a factor in the selection.

“We don’t want to put him at threat,” Frazier stated. “You know how beneficial he is to our team and our franchise. We’ll monitor exactly where he is and try to make a excellent choice on what’s very best for him and what’s finest for our team as nicely.”

Frazier stated for the duration of his postgame news conference Sunday night that Peterson had no fractures or broken bones in the leg. Frazier added that Peterson has a Grade 1 sprain, the least severe of the 3 categories.

Regardless of the discouraging diagnoses, Peterson is hopeful he won’t miss the game against the Falcons.

“That’s not in my DNA,” he mentioned, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I’m going to try to get back as fast as I can, and God willing, I’ll be up and ready to run this weekend.”

Vikings tight ends Kyle Rudolph (bruised quadriceps) and Visanthe Shiancoe (strained hamstring) also are banged up.

(About:) This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For a lot more NFL news see: Vikings: Peterson suffered ligament harm in injured ankle.

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When we last saw the soap opera starring members of the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons, each side was calling out the other for getting unsportsmanlike yahoos.

Ndamukong Suh stirred the pot when he theorized the knee injury that Matt Ryan suffered during Atlanta’s 23-16 victory more than Detroit on Sunday was “karma” for the Falcons offensive line’s long-operating, alleged dirty tactics.

Suh also created it clear that he didn’t care significantly what the Falcons believed of him, soon after they alleged he taunted Ryan while the quarterback was on the ground.

“Do I want Rodney White’s respect? No. Leave it at that,” Suh stated, according to the Detroit Totally free Press.

Roddy White was a guest on NFL Network’s “Around The League” on Monday, and discussed Suh’s comments and his version of the events after Falcons left tackle Will Svitek accidentally stepped on Ryan.

“I know Suh stated what he said,” stated White, the Falcons’ star wide receiver. “He was like, ‘Go get the cart for him. Get him out of here!’ We know he said that. … And then he’s going to say it was karma for what we’ve done in the past when their quarterback gets hurt on the last play of the game and they have an MRI right now.”

White is referring to Lions signal-caller Matthew Stafford, who suffered an ankle injury on his team’s final possession. As for Ryan, Falcons coach Mike Smith stated Monday that the quarterback’s injury “looked a lot worse than it truly turned out to be.”

Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas stated on NFL Network’s “Around the League” that he believes the Lions crossed the line with their alleged taunting.

“While Matt was down, I don’t believe it is necessary to be yelling particular issues to a player although he’s down,” he stated. “I believe the primary factor you need to do is make positive and see if he’s all appropriate.”

Every NFL center is now miked for sound, so you’d think the answer lies out there somewhere. Steve Sabol, we beg you to put this mystery to rest.

(About:) This article was distributed by X2 news wire and aggregation service, For more news see: Lions, Falcons going back and forth on taunting allegations.