NFL Combine for Veteran Players

1bigfan13

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NFL combines will take on an older look when the league adds one for veteran players to go with the massive event it holds for potential draftees.

The veterans combine will take place March 22 at the Arizona Cardinals' training facility in Phoenix. That is about one month after the regular combine for rookies in Indianapolis.
"This is the natural evolution of our combine series," NFL director of football development Matt Birk told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Birk sent a memo to the 32 teams earlier in the day about the new combine. It will be open to veteran free agents who will participate in position-specific drills, timing and testing, and other customary combine activities.

"There's a void there. There was nothing for that guy out there who has one or two or three years in the league and is not with a team and is at the mercy of when the phone rings or when his agent gets him a workout. This will be a forum for these guys to showcase their talents and a service for our clubs instead of [what had been] an inefficient process.''

In the past, most veteran free agents would get individual offseason trials with teams, but that was a costly and somewhat scattered approach. Some veterans have been included in the NFL's regional combines held for draft-eligible players, too.

But the new format will serve to isolate and consolidate veteran free agents so teams can evaluated them against one another.

Scheduling the combine the day before the league's major owners meeting at the same site will allow for just about anyone interested in the evaluation process to attend.

The league expects to invite about 100 free agents to the Arizona combine.

"You're talking the NFL free agent who is one year out of college and was in a training camp, or a 10-year veteran who has been a starter in the league," Birk said. "It will be very diverse, although at first it probably will tilt toward the younger guys."

One thing it won't likely include is the poking and prodding and physical exams that the rookie prospects go through in Indianapolis. Nor will the in-depth interview process be a major portion of the veterans combine.

"This will allow teams to get a look at the guys, and if they want to dive deeper, they can bring the players in for a physical with their own doctors, and do the interviews,'' Birk said. "This is whether the players pass the eye test on the field."
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Pretty intersting/neat idea.

Instead of having individual workouts they now have this one stop shop in Phoenix. I like it.
 
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boozeman

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100 bucks says Terrell Owens shows up.
 

Cotton

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1bigfan13 said:
Pretty intersting/neat idea.

Instead of having individual workouts they now have this one stop shop in Phoenix. I like it.
Yeah, I like it, as well.
 

1bigfan13

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100 bucks says Terrell Owens shows up.
:lol

That was the first person I thought of after reading the article.

I know the article mentioned that the league will invite about 100 players but if it's not by invitation only there's no doubt in my mind that Owens shows up.
 

townsend

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This should culminate in a schlubs version of the East-West game. I'd fucking pay to see that. Steve Mariucci and Wade Philips can coach.
 

data

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They should all live in the same house, too.

Big Brother on CBS.
 

Clay_Allison

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This is a good idea, IMO. Players develop at various rates and I think a lot of the ones who weren't highly drafted can fall through the cracks. It could be a decent secondary pool for talent, guys like George Selvie, who was nearly out of the league before we picked him up, could have a second chance to attract teams.
 

Cowboysrock55

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This is a good idea, IMO. Players develop at various rates and I think a lot of the ones who weren't highly drafted can fall through the cracks. It could be a decent secondary pool for talent, guys like George Selvie, who was nearly out of the league before we picked him up, could have a second chance to attract teams.
This is exactly correct. It is also a perfect spot for late round draft picks and small school guys who don't necessarily get a chance their first time around with a team because they get limited snaps and have higher drafted guys sitting in front of them.
 
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Deuce

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Looking forward to us resigning AOA after he blows up at this thing.
 

DLK150

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If it's by invitation, I wonder what the criteria is for being invited. Only players that have been on a roster within X number of years or something like that, maybe?
 

boozeman

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Michael Sam hopes for a spot at the NFL’s first veteran Combine

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 8, 2015, 3:39 PM EST


Ten months after he was the most talked-about seventh-round pick in the history of the NFL draft, Michael Sam is hoping for a new opportunity to jumpstart his NFL career.

As a result, Sam has applied for a spot in the NFL’s first-ever veteran Combine, USA Today reports.

The NFL announced last month that the veteran Combine will take place on March 22. It is intended for players like Sam, who played well for the Rams in the 2014 preseason but was cut just before the start of the regular season. Sam spent some time on the Cowboys’ practice squad but hasn’t yet been on an active 53-man roster.

If Sam can turn heads at the Combine, he’d have a chance of making a 90-man offseason roster and earning a spot on a regular-season roster. If not, his fallback option is going to Canada, where the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL are interested in his services. That route might actually be a better option for Sam. Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake was cut by the Giants as an undrafted rookie in 2005 but had two good seasons in the CFL in 2007 and 2008 before signing with the Dolphins and becoming a four-time Pro Bowler. Sam could do the same.

But for now, Sam views the CFL as his second choice. His first choice is to catch on with some NFL team, and the veteran Combine will, he hopes, be an opportunity to show teams that he’s ready to play.
 

Cotton

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boozeman

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Vince Young scheduled to work out at new veteran combine

Posted by Darin Gantt on February 27, 2015, 12:41 PM EST

AP

Michael Sam’s not going to be the only curiosity at the NFL’s first veteran combine on March 22.

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, former first-round quarterback Vince Young will be there taking part as well.

Young had allegedly retired, and taken a job at the University of Texas, but he apparently has the itch to play again.

He’s been out of the league since being cut by the Browns last offseason (roll that around in your head for a moment), saying at the time his retirement was “definitely official, I think in my book.”

Young made a pair of Pro Bowls with the Titans, but also floundered through stints with the Eagles, Bills and Packers as well.

This veteran combine idea is good for the players who have come back from injuries or were otherwise marginalized and out of the league. It also provides some needed inventory for the league’s own television network during an otherwise slow time of the year.
 

Jiggyfly

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Vince Young scheduled to work out at new veteran combine

Posted by Darin Gantt on February 27, 2015, 12:41 PM EST

AP

Michael Sam’s not going to be the only curiosity at the NFL’s first veteran combine on March 22.

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, former first-round quarterback Vince Young will be there taking part as well.

Young had allegedly retired, and taken a job at the University of Texas, but he apparently has the itch to play again.

He’s been out of the league since being cut by the Browns last offseason (roll that around in your head for a moment), saying at the time his retirement was “definitely official, I think in my book.”

Young made a pair of Pro Bowls with the Titans, but also floundered through stints with the Eagles, Bills and Packers as well.

This veteran combine idea is good for the players who have come back from injuries or were otherwise marginalized and out of the league. It also provides some needed inventory for the league’s own television network during an otherwise slow time of the year.
That's just wrong dude.:lol
 

Carp

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Michael Sam is the first openly gay player to be invited to the NFL Veteran's Combine.
 
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