Czar: Veterans looking for work

Tag : loose spikes

Culpepper remains without a team. Ditto for former Jacksonville No.1 pick, quarterback Byron Leftwich — whose slow delivery andinjuries ruined his comeback chances in Atlanta last season. On therunning back side, former MVP and 2005 rushing champion ShaunAlexander and the troubled Cedric Benson, who the Bears cut looseafter two public intoxication arrests, are also unemployed. Thereare some other familiar names, like nose tackle Rod Coleman,cornerback Chad Scott and linebacker Takeo Spikes, on the streetand all of them have played at a high level recently in the NFL.
With training camps opening next week, it's unlikely any of theseplayers will find work immediately. What they will be doing (ortheir agents will be doing) is checking the daily injury reports ofall 32 teams.
If Alexander wants to play this season, he doesn't want to walkinto a situation where he's going to be benchwarmer. He wants theball. Benson, though, has so many strikes against him — healso could be facing some Roger Goodell discipline — that theymay keep him on the sidelines a bit longer. Benson, somewhat likeBarry Bonds in baseball, has become radioactive. Does a team wantto deal with the public relations fallout?
This is basically a tale of how the mighty, or the perceivedspecial performers, have fallen.
After years of being a scoring machine for the Seahawks, Alexanderhad difficulty getting past the line of scrimmage last season. Yes,he had a wrist injury, but as one team insider told me, "What didthe hand have to do with him not hitting the hole with any kind ofexplosion?"
Yes, Alexander looked like he had lost a step and whether he wasrunning that way to protect his injured hand, only he knows.Seattle general manager Tim Ruskell didn't hesitate to jettisonAlexander in order to sign former Dallas running back Julius Jones,who was always No. 2 in Big D to Marion Barber. The Jones signingwas a bold move, but it said more about Alexander's demise thananything else. Two years ago, no team would have taken Jones overAlexander.
And while I may be judging the lifespan of Alexander as a NFLrunning back (has he hit the proverbial wall never again to be afactor?), on the flip side Benson really hasn't accomplished much— 1,593 career yards and 10 touchdowns — except tocollect a big paycheck as the fourth overall selection in 2005.