NFL jacksonville Jaguars

Multiple sources are reporting that Jacksonville has agreed to send wide receiver Dennis Northcutt to Detroit in exchange for safety Gerald Alexander.

The Jaguars were rumored to be shopping Northcutt recently -- a notion confirmed by Northcutt's agent (who, incidentally, is also Alexander's agent). The 31-year-old receiver is scheduled to make $2.75 million in 2009. But it was the presence of rookies Jarret Dillard, Mike Thomas and Tiquan Underwood, along with the free-agent signing of Torry Holt, that made Northcutt expendable for Jacksonville.

In fact, despite his 44 catches for 545 yards last season, the Jags were prepared to release Northcutt if a trade partner could not be found.

The stagnant and seemingly dried-up free-agent wide receiver market looks like it will receive a jolt. According to a published report, Matt Jones, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars, will avoid league suspension for violating terms of a court-ordered drug program.

The NFL did suspend Jones for the final three games of 2008 after he was charged with cocaine possession. Jones then violated his subsequent probation by drinking alcohol, landing him in jail for five days. Now, more than two months later and after Jacksonville released Jones, he apparently is at liberty to resume his playing career.

Back in April, former Jacksonville wide receiver Reggie Williams was tasered and arrested in Houston, then charged with felony drug possession after police found cocaine in his pocket.

On Monday, Williams entered a guilty plea on those charges and was sentenced to 2 years probation, a $200 fine and 120 hours of community service, according to KHOU in Texas.

I can't help that I love Torry Holt -- he's a North Carolina State guy who has dominated as a wide receiver at every level. Additionally, he's one of the nicest guys in the NFL, and generally deviates from the typical showboating style that one sees in so many of the league's wideouts. But that doesn't mean Holt's finger -- which is bent in all sorts of silly ways -- is any less disgusting. Because, well, as shown in the video below, it's just gross. But the finger is also a good reminder of why he's so successful; I would bet that Matt Jones or Reggie Williams might just try and smoke off such an injury or something. Holt, meanwhile, just keeps on playing. (Jacksonville.com via Frumpzilla Via Hot Clicks)

Because what would any of us have to gain by letting this Brett Favre thing die, Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress says his team will discuss the possibility of pursuing the can't-seem-to-stay-retired quarterback. Favre's agent strongly indicated to Fanhouse's Calvin Watkins on Friday that Favre has no interest in coming back, going so far as to say that no team has called.

But since this is Favre, can we really be sure he won't change his mind? And since quarterback isn't exactly a position at which NFL teams are overflowing with depth of talent, can we really be sure nobody will be interested if he does? No. Of course we can't. And so, with that in mind and your Saturday morning breakfast still warm, we hereby present the Five Teams That Could (Theoretically) Go Back Down the Agonizingly Painful Brett Favre Road in 2009:

UPDATE: Rex Ryan all up in my face, kid: Jets have made a play for Mark Sanchez by trading into the top five. PK calls it "paying a ransom."

Before the draft started, many folks across the realm of sports media predicted that Mark Sanchez could fall all the way down to the Redskins, mostly predicated on the Chiefs taking Tyson Jackson third overall. Or, at the very least, the 49ers. This was in stark contrast to the earlier notions (even leading up to the Rams' pick) that he could go as high as second.

But Sanchez might have wisely avoided New York for the lack-of-public-embarrassment-safety of California. Why? Because the Chiefs just picked Jackson.

Jimmy Smith was arrested this afternoon at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida, and according to a TMZ report, has been booked into a nearby detention center on four different drug charges: two felonies and two misdemeanors, in addition to driving with a suspended license.

Smith was allegedly carrying multiple illegal substances, was photographed in handcuffs at the gas station while officers escorted him to and from the bathroom and is reportedly being held on $5006 bond in downtown Jacksonville.

The Jacksonville Jaguars showcased their new uniforms live (via the interwebz!) Wednesday. And it would appear, fashion aside, that Wayne Weaver and the powers-that-be in north Florida are highly interested in appealing to a fanbase that is logically disappointed by the team's performance last year. Weaver spoke of finding an "identity" with these uniforms, and based on the write-up from Vic Ketchman, Sr. News Editor at Jaguars.com, several of the changes in store for the new uniforms were based on fan reaction.

To get ready for this weekend's draft, we're looking position-by-position at who could go in the first round, starting with the quarterbacks.


Matt Stafford (top 10 pick), Mark Sanchez (top 10 pick), Josh Freeman (mid-to-late first round).

Stafford may not go No. 1, and if he doesn't go No. 1, there is a chance he could slide to late in the top 10 because few teams at the top of the draft have quarterback as their biggest need. Sanchez is the true wild card. There were plenty of rumors that the Jaguars are interested in him at No. 8, even if the Jags already have a solid quarterback under contract for another six years in David Garrard. Whatever happens with Sanchez, it's hard to see him falling much past the Broncos at No. 12.

Torry Holt and the Jaguars, in theory, go together like proverbial spaghetti and meatball -- Holt is a free agent with plenty of skills remaining and the Jaguars are a team in desperate need of a wide receiver.

And, according to Michael Wright at Florida Times-Union, the marriage is a done deal, as the Jaguars have signed Holt to a two-year contract.