Archive for May, 2012

California's Michael Calvin, right, runs with the ball as Utah's Eric Rowe reaches for him and the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011, in San Francisco. (Associated Press)

California wide receiver Michael Calvin, an undrafted rookie free agent, signed with the Falcons today.

The Falcons have now signed 23 free agents from the draft-eligible class.

Calvin, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, fits the Falcons desire to take players with “speed and urgency.”

He ran a 4.32 in the 40-yard dash at Cal’s 2012 Pro Day, which would have been the fastest time at the NFL scouting combine. He had a broad jump of 11 feet, 1 inch and a vertical of 40.5 inches, which would have tied for the best and tied for the fourth-best marks at the combine, respectively.

(I’m thinking there’s a pretty hot 4 X 100 relay team in the wide receiver meeting room. Here it is: Calvin (4.32), Cody Pearcy (4.3 to .35), Julio Jones (4.39) and Harry Douglas (4.42). The Olympics …

Continue reading Speedy Cal receiver Michael Calvin added »

The Redskins selected Baylor's Robert Griffin III with second pick in the draft. Photo Credit: AP

The Final Mock grades from theHuddleReport.com are in.

In the Final Mock draft, I correctly picked 25 of the 32 first-round picks and seven direct hits.

In theHuddleReport.com final scores, I tallied 39 points (one point for getting the round right and two points for the direct hits) which was tied for 40th.  

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob McGinn, my buddy and mentor who showed me the ropes in the Mocking game, had 26 and 10 direct hits (46 points) and finished No. 2 in  theHuddleReport.com 2012 rankings.

Ben Standig of FFToolbox finished first with 27 of the 32 and 12 direct hits (51 points). Well done Ben!!!

The information that leads into the Final Mock comes from countless interviews at the Senior Bowl, the NFL scouting combine with personnel men, agents and more than 200 draft-eligible players.

I finished two points behind ESPN draft Analyst Mel Kiper (27, 7) and one …

Continue reading 2012 Final Mock grades: Picked 25 of 32 »

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick (7) fumbles the ball, stripped by Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon (56). (Jason Getz / jgetz@ajc.com

The Falcons, who were up against the salary cap after trading for cornerback Asante Samuel, recently received about $3 million in salary-cap credits from the league.

After Samuel was signed by the Falcons last Wednesday, the team had just over $1 million of salary cap space. On Monday, the team had $4,068,441 million in salary cap room for 2012.

ESPN, in a sourced report, stated that the relief came from money former quarterback Michael Vick owed the Falcons after he declared bankruptcy in wake of going to prison on federal dogfighting charges back in 2007.

The Falcons were Vick’s biggest creditor in bankruptcy. They were owed $7.5 million from his signing bonus after he defaulted on his 2005 contract, a 10-year, $130 million deal.

In April of 2009, Vick and the Falcons reached a settlement on the salary cap refund. The Falcons have sought …

Continue reading Falcons received salary cap credit from Vick »