The new image of sports is dictating a new management from the players perspective. In years past teams had more of a jurisdiction of judgment in what they wanted to do with an athlete. Nowadays, athletes are taking control of their own situation and looking to capitalize in an environment that suits them for the immediate future. Disgruntled athletes protesting a holdout are becoming more of a downplayed situation rather than a negative perception of the athlete. What Keenan McCardell did last year in Tampa Bay is only going to continue to happen for high profiled veteran athletes. The reason why is because their dollar value is as high as ever, yet teams want to play it off as much as possible. Management?s whole angle is to use that athlete and then make him a salary cap casualty, like we?ve been seeing the last three to four years.

The past couple of season there has become an extreme indicator that restructuring deals is not working enough. Every team?s original game plan when signing an athlete is to make him as happy as possible. Therefore, they go out and sign him to a long-term deal, that looks great but is in all actuality a dreamland lucrative deal that the salary cap has no room for. Most athletes realize that, and is why a strong signing bonus is the main ingredient to lure any athlete via free agency. Just look at Mushin Muhammed this season.

At thirty-two years old, Muhammed is lucky if he has two to three solid receiver years left in him. The Bears though signed him to a six-year deal. It doesn?t make any sense, but for Muhammed the signing bonus of twelve million dollars kicks on the light bulb.

Out of all the shocking situations to develop as of late, none raises your eyebrows more than the Santana Moss and Lavernues Coles swap. Here are two young athletes on young talented teams, that aren?t even giving a chance to their teams to mesh and grow together. It?s understandable that neither athlete was happy with their involvement in their teams game plans, but who?s to say that?s going to change in a new place?

As an athlete, you get better when you have to adjust your style, and learn new ways to become a threat. It?s dumbfounding that either athlete could even have the audacity to demand a trade. Moss had a down season, but none of the Jets receivers flourished because Pennington was hurt the majority of the season. In fact Moss didn?t catch his first touchdown until week nine.

The adjustment phase of adapting to quarterback injuries or struggles is a process that happens on every team. Moss and Coles both endured quarterback switchups constantly last year, and I think that created a monster inside of each that they were above their respective teams standards.

Every team that becomes successful always looks back on the journey they all had as a unit. The growth process of a team is becoming non-existent amongst athletes, because all they care about is the dollar bill. For Washington, the deal makes more sense, as they were faced in having to cut Coles anyways. Santana Moss is at the end of his deal, and basically the Redskins are just signing Moss a year early, as they?ll extend his contract before the regular season.

When other athletes see a trend of power actually work, its going to become a crazy environment in the NFL. No longer will athletes sit back on horrible teams and wait for another chance. It?s wrong though, as the Corey Dillon?s will tell you, it is worth the wait. For all the hard years Dillon fought in Cincinnati, he stuck it out. Sure, he made plenty of statements to the media and even demanded being traded, but when it came time to play, he represented in a Bengals uniform.

His play never fell off, and that?s when quality teams come knocking on your door. Dillon then signed with New England, and wa-la his eight year career thus far has made it worth those struggling days with the Bengals. Dillon will always have that after taste of flashback losing seasons from Cincinnati, that drives him down the stretch of seasons. What will be there as well is the additional bonus of a 360 degree turnaround Super Bowl season.

Once in awhile you?ll find a true warrior story going into the NFL Draft. An athlete that has been under the radar his whole athletic career, but yet still keeps his goals high. 6?3 quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick may end up being a second day no name selection when his name is called, but he?ll work harder than ever to make sure he makes a roster, and go from there.

Coming out of Highland High School in Arizona, Fitzpatrick received little or no attention from division one schools. He had carried the Hawks on his back for nearly three seasons, but yet the lone offer he received was from Eastern Washington. Fitzpatrick?s grades were phenomenal so he decided to enroll at Harvard, and try his luck with their football program.

From day one he impressed the Harvard coaching staff, and went on to set numerous Ivy League records. Now that his collegiate career is over though, the normal assumption is so would be his football career. To this date there have been very few Ivy league quarterbacks to make it to the NFL, and one that still is standing is Jay Fiedler. In fact it wasn?t too long ago that the 49ers tried that route with Giovanni Carmazzi from Hofstra but it didn?t work out.

Fitzpatrick isn?t afraid to dig in and go for something, and football won?t be his only option if he doesn?t get the opportunity. Along with his economics degree, Fitzpatrick may also be interested in working behind the scenes for a sports franchise. Last summer, he was an intern for the Boston Celtics after he contacted Danny Ainge about any opportunities. He has been impressive at the combine thus far, and wouldn?t be shocking to see him drafted in the late fifth or early sixth round as a steal. This is definitely an athlete that you have to rate for his talent, and not make him suffer because he played against weaker college teams.

The Bills caught a brief glimpse of Willis McGahee?s potential last season, but his success has been sidetracked by the Bills offseason moves at quarterback. Sure having a secure solution at quarterback is the key to a winning team, but the backbone of success all rides on the shoulders of the running back.

It?s inevitable that Travis Henry will be traded before the April NFL Draft. Henry wants out and there are plenty of NFL teams inquiring about his talents. With that in mind that?s going to mean the sole duties of running the football are going to be pinned on McGahee.

Flashing back to two years ago, McGahee was drafted by the Bills as a project first round choice. He was coming off one of the most severe injuries a back can suffer and everyone saw it live on national television against the Buckeyes. Tearing out three ligaments in a knee will set any player back dramatically, but the recovery period is different for all athletes.

Still going into the 2004 season the Bills plans were to work McGahee and Henry evenly. The first five weeks of the season saw Henry and McGahee split the carries around a 70-30 ratio. Henry was a Pro Bowl back and didn?t show any reason not to keep the starting job. Once Henry went down though, it opened the door for the Bills to roll out the carpet for McGahee.

In most cases a running back will tell you that a serious knee injury can take up to two years to fully recover from. The Bills would have been wise to utilize Joe Burns more than they did, because the initial stress put on McGahee hurt him down the stretch with relative minor injuries*. Weeks eight and nine he had over thirty carries each game, including a season high thirty seven. That?s mind boggling that the Bills would wear him down like that, but he is a young back that?s expected to heal in the off season right?

Wrong, how many times have we seen backs carry the load and have a successful campaign, and then the next year have a serious injury? It?s happened to the best of them including Terrell Davis, Jamal Anderson, and last year Stephen Davis. Ricky Williams could have been added to that list the way Miami was working him to death, but now we will never know. The fact of the matter is, the Bills aren?t as secure at running back as they?d like to think.

The average back in the NFL lasts five to six seasons, but McGahee isn?t an average back. He has had more than his fair share of injuries in high school and college, and one more could set him back for good. With Henry out of the picture, where would Buffalo look to if McGahee were to go down?

To be a team on another level you need great athletes on the field, and an athlete that isn?t that far off as a backup. Over the last five years in the NFL, that has showed more than ever. Look at Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New England, and Atlanta, what do they all have in common? Well all went to their conference championship games, and all have deep backfields. Philadelphia has Correll Buckhalter and Brian Westbrook, the Steelers Bettis and Staley, New England-Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk, and the Falcons with TJ Duckett and Warrick Dunn.

Another note to take down is that every one of those teams had to rely on one back when another went down during the season. Staley was out for an extended period of time, Warrick Dunn missed a stretch, Buckhalter went down in preseason, and Dillon only missed one game, but one game was the difference in Buffalo not making the playoffs this past season.

Buffalo better make sure the right offer is on the table for Henry, as they?ll need to use that draft pick or sign a backup to McGahee. With all the talent in the draft at running back, the Bills should be able to find a gem within the first three to four rounds.

Maurice Clarett continues to not only tarnish his image, but is eliminating all chances of just getting a chance in the NFL. Literally he has went from being one of the top backs in college football, to a late first day draft choice, and now his status is in limbo after a stage show disappointing performance.

For the second year in a row the NFL network is telecasting the combine, which allows scouts, coaches, and fans to take their own notes without having to travel. Just a few days before his forty yard dash setback, Clarett played with reporters and the media on how much he has changed. He definitely seemed like a different person that has endured a lot over the last year, but NFL scouts weren?t buying it.

Clarett was just protecting his back, and misleading everyone. He even said if he ran a solid forty time, that he wouldn?t do any other workouts after that day. Well he showed up ready to go, and in fact was constantly on a treadmill at the hotel to get his legs ready. He even performed well in the strength drills by doing twenty two reps of 225 pounds on the bench press. Scouts knew he was capable of that, but wanted to see if he had the speed.

Over the last year, Clarett has been training extensively on dropping his body fat percentage, and building up his body. He did both, by dropping his body fat from seventeen percent to eleven, and bulking up in a noticeable appearance. By building body mass an athlete tends to lose their quickness, and for Clarett that was the case. His forty time went from 4.6 at last years combine to 4.8. It was a dramatic change of events for Clarett, and he obviously didn?t know how to handle it.

Clarett acted like a kid that runs off the stage because of embarrassment. Scouts and other media personnel perceived the move as Clarett?s true ways. He completely gave up and didn?t return to perform other drills. With all the fresh talent at running back, Clarett more than likely killed any chances of being more than a late sixth round or seventh round pick. Even at that, an NFL team that drafts him is just going to take him because of the value/risk factor. They know he can be a solid back, and with a throw away draft choice why not take a gamble? If he doesn?t pan out in training camp, he?ll be cut in a heartbeat and find his way to Arena Football.

Another option for Clarett may be to switch to fullback. Every year more and more big backs are being switched to the position, because it gives NFL teams a versatile running fullback. Other than that if Clarett wants to redeem himself, it?s going to start from the bottom up. There isn?t another running back that has slipped this much in the course of a year in a long time.

It brings up another point, that by Clarett having to wait to be eligible for the NFL it hurt his future. An athlete often jumps board to the NBA because they know that they?ve peaked well and are an automatic lock to be drafted highly. Clarett was likely going to be a late first round to second round pick last year, and with the delay it has ultimately added more stress and a shadow of media where ever he goes. Who knows if he had got his chance last year if he?d be on the right path and working hard fresh off of his first season in the NFL We will just never know, but for Clarett that should have been extra motivation for him to work even harder.