advertisement
Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Vikings promoted director of player personnel George Paton to assistant general manager.
Paton was reportedly one of two finalists for the Rams' vacant general manager position, with Falcons director of player personnel Les Snead being the other. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the job was Paton's "to lose." It's possible Paton's decision to stay in Minnesota was due to the fact that new Rams coach Jeff Fisher is expected to have final say on all personnel moves.
NFL Network's Mike Lombardi fully expects the Vikings to draft a left tackle with the No. 3 overall pick.
"They're not gonna go back with Charlie Johnson at left tackle," Lombardi insisted. "They'll pass on a receiver in order to get the left tackle. They can't block anybody." Christian Ponder has been oft-injured dating back to college, and the Vikings are well positioned to get Matt Kalil or Riley Reiff, the latter of whom is Mike Mayock's top-rated left tackle for 2012. Lombardi points out that Jeff Fisher and Mike Shanahan are "very close," and if there is a trade in the top five, he expects it to involve the Redskins and the Rams.
Vikings re-signed OT Patrick Brown to a one-year, $540,000 contract.
The backup tackle was scheduled to hit exclusive rights free agency. Brown saw significant playing time in just one game last season.
Brett Favre reiterated on 1340 The Fan in Lubbock, Texas on Monday that he is happy in retirement and has no plans to come back.
Favre, 42, was the subject of reckless rumors spread by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel last August that claimed he might quarterback the Dolphins. It never happened, and he drew no interest from any teams. "I was just burned out," Favre said, referring to 2010. "This season, being removed and having a bird's eye view but not being involved was eye-opening because I didn't miss it a bit."
The Vikings are expected to demote FS Jamarca Sanford into a special teams-only role in 2012.
Sanford "earned" the opportunity to start in 2011 after beating out Tyrell Johnson in camp, but he flopped in the secondary. Per ESPN 1500's Tom Pelissero, Sanford allowed 20 of the 31 passes thrown at him to be completed (64.5 percent) for 344 yards and eight touchdowns. He also missed too many open-field tackles. Per Pelissero, Sanford "confirmed he's just a special teamer."
Vikings DE Everson Griffin played only 25.3 percent of the team's 2011 defensive snaps, but finished fourth on the team in sacks (4.0) and racked up 14 quarterback pressures.
Beat writer Tom Pelissero is adamant Griffen deserves more playing time, but the Vikings haven't found creative ways to do it. Per Pelissero, who charted all of Minnesota's 2011 defensive snaps, Griffen displayed "a variety of pass-rush moves from both end spots" and was "OK in the run game, too." Highly athletic, Griffen also finished second on the Vikings with 18 special teams tackles.
After reviewing all of the Vikings' 2011 defensive snaps, 1500 ESPN's Tom Pelissero expects LE Brian Robison to "justify his deal and then some" going forward.
The Vikings were criticized in some circles for giving Robison a three-year, $14.1 million contract last March, and letting free agent Ray Edwards walk. The move paid off. Robison played 82.7 percent of the Vikings' 2011 defensive snaps, racking up eight sacks, 13 quarterback hits, and 54 total pressures. Edwards finished 2011 in Atlanta with 3.5 sacks, 8.5 QB hits, and 26 pressures. (Pressure and quarterback hits numbers are from ProFootballFocus.com.)
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings
Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.