FFSpiral BLog

Staying in the New York area today with the NFL shopping for Giants autographed items, look for an emergence from at least one of Big Blue’s young receivers this season as it’s a definite Plaxico Burress and long-time Giant Amani Toomer will not be back in 2009. Eli Manning will need Mario Manningham, Dominick Hixon and rookie Hakim Nicks to step up if they look to fend off arguably the toughest divisional competitors in the NFL (Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington) and return to the postseason.

For Giants memorabilia collectors out there, there’s word that Eli Manning is in works to do a new signing in the coming weeks. Whether it’ll be for signed NFL footballs or Super Bowl inscriptions has yet to be determined, but we’ll keep you up to date on any news.

While I’m sure many New York fans and Jets memorabilia collectors don’t look back in anger on the three-season Eric Mangini era, I bet there’s one player that was let go that all Jets fans would love to see in new head coach Rex Ryan’s defense: Jonathon Vilma. A 12th overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, Vilma went on to win the ‘04 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award and would be voted a Jets captain in 2007 before being traded to the New Orleans Saints in 2007. Despite his talent and versatility, Vilma struggled to find a place in Mangini’s 3-4 defensive scheme and was shipped to N’awlins in early 2008. After speaking to friends and former teammates Kerry Rhodes and Eric Barton, Vilma spoke highly of both current Saints head coach Sean Payton and passed along praise from current Jets about Ryan. Vilma and his current mates will welcome the Jets to the Superdome on October 4th in what may be an early measuring-stick game for both teams.

To check out a full list of available Saints autographs and other football memorabilia, head over to FFSpiral.com.

Fans love to collect NFL memorabilia and autographed football jerseys during the season, but this summer looks to challenge even the most hardy football fan. There are no less than seven teams with an actual quarterback battle entering training camp. If you picked up a signed football by rookies Mark Sanchez or Matthew Stafford, you know all about their battles in New York and Detroit. If you’re a fan of teams in Oakland, San Francisco, Minnesota, Cleveland and Tampa Bay, you might want to hold off on getting that new NFL jersey until you see actually which of your quarterbacks is going to get the nod come kickoff weekend.

Still in voluntary workout mode, it’s crystal clear the New York Jets have more than a few roster questions to answer before training camp. Fans and Jets memorabilia collectors were elated when the team moved up to the fifth overall selection to snag Mark Sanchez in last month’s NFL Draft. The only problem might stem from having Kellen Clemens, whose been waiting in the wings for seemingly forever, still on the team’s depth chart. After using a second round pick on Clemens in 2006, the former Oregon product has only thrown a total of 256 passes in three seasons. With Sanchez in a Jets jersey entering training camp, it’s anyone’s guess who’ll be under center come the regular season.

Staying in the backfield, the drafting of running back Shonn Greene in the third round of the aforementioned draft has apparently ruffled the feathers of half backs Thomas Jones and Leon Washington. Both are refusing to enter voluntary workouts until receiving long-term contracts. The odds seem good for Washington, after all the do-it-all speedster lead the entire NFL in total yards last season and will be entering the final year of his current contract in 2009. Even after a huge uptick in yards, touchdowns and demands for football memorabilia, the 31-year old Jones might be bracing to put on a different NFL jersey before entering training camp.

One player you know fans and NFL autographs collectors are always keeping their eyes on is newly-relocated wide receiver Terrell Owens. There’s no one player who can really hurt a team’s sales, especially not in Cowboys memorabilia, but T.O. hopes to make his autographed footballs a hit up in northwestern New York. I’m not sure how well Bills memorabilia will react with an enigmatic character like Owens on board, but I’m pretty sure the last thing I’ve encountered from that region is…well…the chicken wing.

Say this three times fast: Pats-Panthers-pick-for-Peppers. So there’s word out of Foxboro that should have Patriots memorabilia collectors and fans ecstatic. The Pats are reportedly close to a deal that would land them four-time Pro Bowler Julius Peppers from the Carolina Panthers in return for the 34th overall pick in next month’s NFL Draft. While Peppers is one of the NFL’s more popular players and a damn good defensive end, football memorabilia collectors don’t have to sweat him rivaling Tom Brady autographs in popularity or value anytime soon. Regardless of his popularity in comparison to Brady, I bet all Pats fans are pulling to see Peppers signed Patriots jersey-adorned come Fall.

So ESPN has officially named the Jay Cutler vs. Josh McDaniels saga in Denver “McJayGate”. I kinda love it. Openly talking about trading your team’s franchise quarterback probably isn’t a wise endeavor for a first-year head coach, especially when that franchise quarterback is a favorite of both fans and NFL memorabilia collectors. After he was drafted early in the first round by Denver a few years back, we saw an immediate boom in sales of autographed footballs and all Broncos memorabilia. Point is, whatever autographed football helmet you may be putting up on your mantle, you probably want your front-office types to butt out of saying anything that proves detrimental to your guys on the field.

The action-packed 2009 off-season continued for Jerry Jones’ Cowboys yesterday with the release of veteran safety Roy Williams. While he doesn’t have the notoriety or evoke the demand for Cowboys memorabilia like Emmitt Smith autographs or autographed NFL jerseys from Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach, Williams has been a devastating force against the run since arriving in Dallas in 2002. A former first-round selection, Williams is a five-time Pro Bowler and has over 600 career tackles. While fans and NFL memorabilia collectors wait to see where the safety lands, the more compelling story line may be where that T.O. guy ends up in 2009.

The Rex Ryan project is officially underway. After making the Baltimore defense arguably the most dominant unit in the game and making many of their players stars with fans and NFL memorabilia collectors, the rookie head coach has added two more sluggers for his new secondary in New York. Former Raven Jim Leonhard and former Eagle Lito Sheppard, whose autographed NFL jerseys are in the same demand as those for Brian Westbrook autographs and Donovan McNabb memorabilia, are New York’s newest pass defenders. For a defense that near the basement in aerial defense a season ago, Gang Green may be in the top five, if not the best in the NFL in 2009.

The NFL’s free agent signing period is just under eight hours away, and while many big-name players may be jumping ship, you shouldn’t expect that the values on their NFL memorabilia will see major changes. Of course if you’ve got some autographed footballs from guys like Ray Lewis or Jeff Garcia, then you should be hoping to see those guys go to a large market like New York or Chicago. Look at the constant demand for Giants memorabilia and how many NFL jerseys you see from teams like the Jets and Bears.

The free agent signing period for the NFL begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday morning.