While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Mike Holmgren admits the Browns are interested in Julius Peppers but the current price may be too high: “Certainly Julius is one of the guys we talk about, but then I have to put on my other hat a little bit, because there are some financial ramifications there…I’d be reluctant, as great a player as Julius is, to compare anybody with Reggie White. We did it for Reggie. If you remember at the time, we bonused Reggie, I think we bonused him for $8 million…Everyone thought we were nuts. It was numbers off the charts, and think of that today. You toss around stuff like it’s nothing. If I thought there was a Reggie White out there, or if I thought there was a Brett Favre out there I could trade for, I’d be seriously interested.” [Aaron Wilson/National Football Post]
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Can Z still claim continuous tenure with the Cavs: “No longer can Ilgauskas unequivocally claim he is No. 2 in the NBA behind Kobe Bryant on the list of players with the longest unbroken tenure with one team. Although representatives from the league office and the Elias Sports Bureau stress that no formal ruling has yet been made on the subject…Ilgauskas never came close to playing for Washington, but he undoubtedly was a Wizard for nine days. Which means his tenure with the Cavs was undeniably interrupted, even if they will remain the only team he ever plays for.” [Marc Stein/Weekend Dime]
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Joe Tait pans the Cavs pre-game rituals: “Tait rarely gets into the analytical side of the broadcast, and wasn’t prompted, so it was a bit surprising to hear his take: The Cavaliers need to focus less on the pre game handshakes between themselves and their opponent, and instead turn their attention to working hard on the basketball court. Tait has seen his share of basketball games, and knows when a team needs to turn things up on the defensive end. Personally I could care less about the pre game hugs, handshakes, and rituals, but I’ve heard Tait speak out against this multiple times this season.” [Kyle Whitling/Stepien Rules]
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As Scott addressed this week, the Browns interest in Sam Bradford is high but his stock is rising to potential No.1 overall levels: “As first reported by former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah of Move The Sticks, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford posted a weight of 236 pounds at his Friday morning Combine weigh-in. For those NFL personnel people who were on the fence about Bradford because of his formerly 223-pound frame, wondering if he could take repeated hits in the pocket at that size, a more muscled Bradford could shake up the top of the draft board.” [Doug Farrar/Shutdown Corner]
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Hey, Buttermaker! Maybe next spring you’ll teach me how to hit: “Today is the second and final day for ‘tracking’ practice by hitters. Pitchers are throwing to them at full speed, but the hitters just watch the pitches go by. There’s no screen in front of the pitcher and there’s no batting cage for the hitter. It looks like the hitters are posing for pictures. This is manager Manny Acta’s idea… ‘I think it’s very counterproductive to have guys, the first day or two, batting against pitchers because the pitchers are ahead of them. They can take bad swings and get into bad habits.’ ” [Paul Hoynes/Plain Dealer]
