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Franchise tag and union leaders

By Josh Kirkendall

The NFLPA "released the franchise and transition tag numbers for each position group". I'm looking for an actual chart of each position (if you find it, let us know). The topic is in Mark Curnutte's Super Bowl Notebook.

Defensive ends? If the Bengals put the franchise tag on Justin Smith, they'll be paying him at least $8.6 million for one year. Transition? $7.7 million.

However..

In Mark's opening story -- Union leaders: Bad behavior bad for business -- we keep hearing how the powers that be will addressed "the importance of proper off-field conduct."

"The last thing I told them was the only people who can mess up the (collective bargaining agreement) is players," (NFLPA executive director, Gene) Upshaw said. "We can see an escalation. We've seen what is happening in other sports."

I'm honestly not sure how the CBA can be "messed" up -- unless he's referring to restructuring the agreement. And I'm honestly not sure how the powers that be (or God in their minds) will right the ship. If players like the Bengals' Eight Men Out don't even listen to Marvin Lewis or NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, how can we expect any of the players to listen?

Make an impression. Charged with a felony and you forfeit your contract and your banned from the game for two calendar years. There's no second chance. One and done. Make an impression. Otherwise shut up, quit make making pointless public comments with no intention on resolution.

In other off-the-field conduct issues.

Deltha O'Neal's DUI case has been pushed back to March 9.

In Palmer reacts to conduct issues:

"There's really nothing Marvin (Lewis) can do in the offseason," Palmer said of his coach. "He can't put a curfew on guys. You can't call guys every single night to make sure they're in bed and not running around. It something difficult, it's something that tarnished our organization. It's something we're definitely not proud of and something that needs to stop."

"I think Marvin is going to implement some new rules to get guys in the right place at the right time doing the right things," Palmer said.

"You hope when something happens once, a slap on the wrist will take care of it," Palmer said. "It gets more and more frustrating, because we're all supposed to be professionals and handle ourselves as professionals. I'm a glass-half-full guy. But enough is enough."

"If you watched the New England Patriots play against the San Diego Chargers (in the AFC divisional playoffs), it's not even close talent-wise," Palmer said, referring to San Diego's standout players. "I hope everybody on our team saw that game, because that was a true example of the best team (New England) wins."

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