Free Football Picks: Spurned by Packers, Barnett Agrees to Sign With Bills

Spurned by Packers, Barnett agrees to sign with Bills Free Football Picks: Linebacker Nick Barnett did not take long for the free running of accepting a three-year contract with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

The deal comes two days after Barnett was released by Green Bay Packers. And it came hours after the eight-year veteran saw a field of Bills training tutorial in suburban Rochester, NY The use of the 2011 Super Bowl ring, Barnett spent much of the session to discuss with Assistant coach Dave Wannstedt, who is also the linebackers coach within the team.

Football Picks: CFL Week 5 Preview and Free Sports Picks

NFL Picks - CFL Week 5 Preview: The road dogs were out in full-force last week as they recorded a clean sweep in Week 4 of the CFL regular season. Hamilton started things off with a 39-31 win over British Columbia as a 3.5-point road dog on Friday night.

Winnipeg outlasted Toronto 33-24 as a 3.5-point dog in the early game on Saturday, while Edmonton remained perfect on the year with 24-19 victory over Calgary as a three-point underdog later that night. 

Football Picks: BC Lions vs Blue Bombers CFL Week 5 Predictions

Football Picks - Blue Bombers vs BC Lions CFL Week 5 Predictions: Teams that used to share the West Division together square off for the final time at Canad Inns Stadium on Thursday night in CFL betting action, as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers meet up with the BC Lions.

The Leos have been handed another tough loss, and it is clear that this is becoming another frustrating start to the season.

Football Picks: Packers Still Hope To Take Victory Lap at the White House

NFL Picks News: Now that the NFL labor dispute comes to an end, the Green Bay Packers are still hoping to find a way to celebrate their victory in Super Bowl at the White House.

They work against a very short time.

NFL Picks: Owners, Players Down to Details in Finalizing Labor Agreement

NFL Picks News: The NFL and the NFL Players Association are in the details to finalize an agreement to work 10 years to end a blockade that lasted more than four months.

After a very productive conversation Saturday sources involved in the negotiations said Sunday the NFLPA set up plans for the Executive Committee of 13 man to go to Washington and meet Monday with representatives of 32 players waiting for a possible Monday vote too.

NFL Picks: Edmonton Eskimos vs Calgary Stampeders Week 4 CFL Picks

Calgary Stampeders vs Edmonton Eskimos NFL Picks: The Battle of Alberta will be on at McMahon Stadium on Saturday night in CFL betting action on the NFL Network, as the Calgary Stampeders look to end the undefeated run of the Edmonton Eskimos in a 7:00 ET kickoff.

Many thought that the first season for Head Coach Kavis Reed was going to be a rough one for the Eskimos, especially off of a disappointing 2010 campaign that ended without a playoff berth. However, the Esks are out of the block like a house of fire, putting up the best holistic numbers of any team in the league, including the mighty defending champion Montreal Alouettes.

NFL Picks: Saskatchewan Roughriders vs Montreal Alouettes CFL Picks

Montreal Alouettes  vs Montreal Alouettes NFL Picks: The Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders have played two very level Grey Cups in the last two seasons. It looks like the two are miles apart this year though, and CFL bettors will have a tough time when these two hook up at Percival Molson Stadium on Sunday night.

To say that the Roughriders have had a rough start to the season is a bit of an understatement. They are one of the two winless teams in the CFL, and there really hasn’t been much to be proud of in any real facet of the game.

NFL Picks: Packers' Driver Reveals Super Bowl Injuries Kept Him in Park

NFL Picks News: Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver has revealed the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday that the ankle and knee injuries suffered Super Bowl XLV was much worse than originally thought.

The ankle injury, initially diagnosed as a sprain - and lockouts - forced 12-year veteran wearing a walking boot for two months.

NFL Picks: Rookie QB Ponder Aching to Start Career in Minnesota

NFL Picks News: They spend most of the summer in Florida still not quite Christian Ponder to get ready for the grueling workout on Monday.

The Vikings rookie quarterback joined a group of NFL players and hopes at the University of Minnesota on a hot, humid morning, after a journey of 22 hours to move his business and officially begin his professional career.

NFL Picks: Bengals RB Benson Charged With Assault on Family Member

NFL Picks News: Running back Cedric Benson was released from jail Sunday after being arrested on an assault charge, the second consecutive year; he had trouble in his home country.

Benson was a free agent after leading Cincinnati Bengals proud for the last three seasons. He hoped to keep the Bengals, and has worked for players in Cincinnati during the block of the NFL.

NFL Picks: Harrison Issues Mea Culpa for Comments on Steelers, Goodell

NFL Picks: When the self-inflicted controversy swirling around him, Pittsburgh Steelers Linebacker James Harrison went into damage control mode on Thursday night, releasing a statement to apologize to some of the comments made in an interview.

Harrison gave his opinion through Facebook and Twitter, explains the thinking behind some of his scathing comments during a span of four days in May and August, a printed edition of Men's Journal.

But Harrison first order of business was to respond to comments he made about teammate Ben Roethlisberger and Rashard Mende Hall. The linebacker was critical "performance in the Steelers lost two players from Super Bowl XLV in Green Bay Packers, said Roethlisberger, who threw two interceptions in the game," Hand the ball and stop acting like Peyton Manning "Mende Hall and call a" search machine "because of its revenue in the fourth quarter.

Football Picks: Conference USA and MAC College Football Division Futures & Odds

MAC College NFL Picks: Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference are the two Mid-Major football conferences that not only have an overall title on the line each season, but also include two division races as well. So when handicapping these two for the upcoming season, there are odds posted for each team in terms of winning a conference title as well as odds for each to win their respective division.

Starting with the East Division in C-USA, the odds-on-favorite to win this season are the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles at +125. They are coming off an 8-5 season overall in 2010 with a 5-3 record in the conference.

Football Picks: CFL Week 3 Betting Preview

NFL Picks: CFL Week 3 Betting Preview - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Edmonton Eskimos combined for a total of 11 wins in 2010, but both teams are off to a 2-0 start after the Bombers beat Toronto 22-16 on Friday night as a one-point home favorite and the Eskimos took care of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 28-10 as a 1.5 home favorite on Saturday.

In the two other games, Calgary pulled off the mild upset on Friday as a 2.5-point road underdog in a 34-32 win over British Columbia, while Montreal pummeled Saskatchewan 39-25 as a three-point road favorite on Saturday.

NFL Picks: Bills Going All in on Merriman is Act of Desperation

NFL Picks News: The scouts around the league Linebacker Shawne Merriman said, after seeing the injuries to rob a three-time Pro Bowler and skills, making him one of the dominant pass rushers in the game.

But the Buffalo Bills are not just willing to bet that he will regain his All-Star form, they bet on him being the anchor in a rebuilt defense that leads the franchise in the doldrums in 2011.

Yes. In fact, the team so the idea of ??returning as a full force Merriman, he signed a two-year, incentive-based contract that would average $ 9250000 per year, with $ 2.5 million guaranteed the first year of the agreement.

NFL Picks: Panthers QB Newton a Study in Focus as Training Continues

NFL Picks News: It was not surprising to see Cam Newton gossip sites in recent months, is celebrating its status as No. 1 draft pick while killing time until the NFL lockout is resolved.

But it's not about what Newton. You will not find in New York or Los Angeles or South Beach. Instead, rookie Carolina Panthers spent most of his time quietly in Bradenton, Fla., working to develop a game that will translate to the professional level.

"It was brought to my attention that if you take care of your number one goal, two, three, four, five -- they will be taken care of," Newton told The Charlotte Observer in Sunday's edition. "My number one goal is to be a great football player."

NFL Picks: NY Attorney General Investigating NFL Lockout

NFL Lockout and NFL Picks News: NY attorney general to investigate the lockout NFL

New York, the Attorney General has launched an antitrust investigation into the lock-out of the NFL, requesting information from the league and the players' association on the economic impact of the impasse of the work of professional football.

“While we are hopeful that the NFL and its players will reach an agreement to end the ongoing lockout in the near future, this office will take all appropriate steps to protect New Yorkers, many of whom rely on the significant economic activity generated by the NFL,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Thursday.

NFL Lockout: NFL Players and Owners meet On Thursday

NFL Lockout and NFL Picks News: Staff and legal teams for the NFL owners and players met for about 11 hours Wednesday, is in the evening with large meetings threatening.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's, the NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, owners, players and U.S. Judge Arthur Boylan will join the group on Thursday and the clock is ticking for a deal to save his job preseason - and the hundreds of millions of prescriptions that go with it.

Among those present at Wednesday's discussions were the NFL outside counsel Bob Batterman a, NFLPA outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler and NFLPA general counsel Richard Berthelsen. During the day, new faces have emerged. Four hours, the NFL vice president of law and labor policy birch Adolpho, drug czar in the league, and senior vice president of labor disputes and the policy of Dennis Curran arrived. Three hours later, lawyers for the executive council of the league entered the building in Manhattan.

NFL Picks: CFL Week 2 Betting Preview

CFL Week 2 NFL Picks: The 2011 CFL regular season got under way last week with all eight teams playing their season opener. It was a week of upsets as all four favorites lost against the spread and three lost their games straight-up.

 The defending Grey Cup Champion Montreal Alouettes kicked things off last Thursday with a 30-26 victory over British Columbia, but failed to cover as a five-point home favorite. On Friday, Hamilton lost to Winnipeg 24-16 as an 8.5 point home favorite and the 2010 West Division champion Calgary Stampeders were beaten by Toronto 23-21 as an eight-point home favorite. Sunday night’s Week 1 finale saw Saskatchewan fall to Edmonton as a six-point home favorite.

ACC and SEC NFL Picks- NCAA College Football Division Futures

ACC and SEC NFL Picks: The two major college conferences that are comprised of nation’s most prominent football programs on the East Coast are the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeast Conference. Each conference contains 12 schools and two divisions, so not only are there odds posted for each team in terms of winning a conference title, there are odds posted for each to win their respective division in order to earn a spot in Conference Championship Game in early December.

The ACC has the Atlantic Division and the Coastal Division. Florida State, which is btb’s third favorite to win a national title this season at 10/1, has been opened as a prohibitive -300 favorite to win the ACC Atlantic Division.

Jimbo Fisher’s Seminoles are loaded this season on defense with eight starters returning from last year’s squad that gave up less than 20 points a game. The defensive line will be anchored by DE Brandon Jenkins and the secondary has a solid playmaker in CB Xavier Rhodes. E.J Manual will take over as the starting quarterback for the departed Christian Ponder and he will have seven additional starters back from last year. The second favorite to win the division is Maryland at +350 followed by Clemson at +500.

The Coastal Division is a bit more up for grabs with Virginia Tech the favorite at -110, followed by Miami at +150 and North Carolina at +200. The Hokies return 13 starters from a team that went a perfect 8-0 last season in conference play and finished 11-3 after a 0-2 start. Logan Taylor will have some big shoes to fill with the departure of QB Tyrod Taylor, but the strength of this team lies in a defense that is led by All-American CB Jayron Hosley and All-Conference LB Bruce Taylor.

The Hurricanes will look to put up a challenge with a slew of new faces on both sides of the ball after losing nine starters from last year’s team. The Tar Heels will be looking to put their off-field issues from a year ago behind them in an effort to make a legitimate run at the Hokies.

The SEC has produced the last five national champions and is in a great position to make it sixth straight will Alabama as the second favorite to with the BCS Championship at 11/2. The Crimson Tide are favored at -150 to win the SEC West Division followed by LSU at +200 and Arkansas at +500. Alabama’s starting quarterback position remains up for grabs between A.J. McCarron and Phillip Sims, but both are more than capable of replacing the departed Greg McElroy. Trent Richardson will take over as s the featured running back and Darius Hanks and Marquis Maze should be the two primary receivers in the passing game.

LSU could be a sleeper this season; much like Auburn was a year ago. The Tigers are loaded on both sides of the ball with nine starters returning on offense including RB Spencer Ware and seven starters on a defense that was ranked 11th in the nation in points allowed. The Razorbacks will have to find a way to quickly reload after losing nine starters from last year’s team including QB Ryan Mallett, who is now in the NFL.

The East Division odds have Florida as the favorite at +125, closely followed by Georgia at +160 and South Carolina at +250. Will Muschamp takes over for the retired Urban Meyer as the Gators’ head coach and new offensive coordinator Charlie Weis will switch the offense to a pro set from Meyer’s spread formation. QB John Brantley should benefit from the change after struggling to run the spread last season. Florida returns just four starters on defense, but this team should have little problem finding replacements with a roster that is still loaded with talent from Meyer’s past recruiting efforts.

The Bulldogs return seven starters on offense including QB Aaron Murray and All-Conference TE Orson Charles. The defending East Division Champion Gamecocks are coming off their best season in Steve Spurrier’s tenure as head coach, but lost 11 starters from last year’s squad.

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