The Rebirth of an Empire | Albuquerque Aztecs | Madden 08

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Saints Out of NFL

In news today, it was reported the New Orleans Saints would have to give up all rights after the Superdome could not be rebuilt and owner Tom Benson sold his stake to the NFL. This news coming shortly after the draft but prior to the start of most teams full squad training camp could have massive effects on the NFL landscape for years to come. League Sources had this to say at a recent press conference following the announcement:

"It is with great sadness we bid the Saints farewell; In the recent hours since we announced the news, we have been working diligently to get a 32nd franchise up and running prior to this upcoming June to keep everything in line. We will hold a league meeting with all 31 owners and 15 hopeful owners tomorrow afternoon. The NFL and NFLPA have worked out the league will pay the guaranteed amount players were set to make this year to all players on the Saints' Roster. All players will become available as free agents when we finalize all the documentation on the subject."

The league has given itself about 2 months to prepare a full 45 man team to play this year. With a who's who of NFL executives meeting tomorrow, we will be impatiently awaiting the leagues decision.

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Albuquerque wins NFL Franchise

After league officials met behind closed doors in the New York Headquarters they had arranged a press conference to announce their final decision:

"The NFL's 32nd Franchise will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The city beat out the likes of other bigger markets with a fast acting plan to have a stadium built by the end of next season and a current place to play games until the completion of the new stadium. The NFL will hold a 9th expansion draft one week from today."

Albuquerque is the 46th biggest media market in the US. The teams owner Eddie Vargas becomes the NFL's first minority team owner. Vargas' pitched his vision for a team with a promise of a new NFL stadium within 3 years that made the team stick out more than larger market owner pitches like San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Portland and Las Vegas. The NFL made it clear that international expansion was not currently possible based on the upcoming schedules that have already been set. The new franchise will play in Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, New Mexico where the New Mexico State Aggies play their games. The stadium holds just over 30,000 fans. Although it is small by NFL standards, the Albuquerque franchise will have to make due.

With an expansion draft coming next week the NFL is sure to have a dramatic change of landscape.

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Albuquerque Releases Mascot and Name

Just 3 short days before their Expansion Draft, the NFL's newest franchise announced its name and mascot:

The owner Eddie Vargas held a local press conference:
"We have decided to name the franchise Aztecs after the naming contest ended with over 50,000 votes for the mascot. We had artists draw up several logos and this was chosen as the winner. We believe that Aztecs is the perfect name for the franchise as it pays homage and leaves a lasting impression. I want to make this franchise the first you think of when you think of the NFL. Now, it will be at the top of the list by both city name and team name. My committee, board of advisors and I have been deciding how to build this team for its inaugural season in the NFL and we believe we will have a very good product from the top to the bottom, both on and off the field."

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Aztecs Expansion Draft Results

At Noon Eastern Time today the NFL held its 9th Expansion draft for the Albuquerque Aztecs. The NFL instated the same rules used for the 2002 expansion draft plus some:

1. Each team puts up 5 players

2. When a player is selected from a team, the team can remove one player from the list, if another player is taken the team can remove the remaining players.

3. No rookies or players on the Injured Reserve are allowed to be entered.

4. Each team can only put up one player with 10 or more years of NFL experience.

5. No players set to be free agents in 2008 can be entered.

6. The Aztecs must fill at least 35% of the league mandated 109M dollar salary cap.

7. The Aztecs can select up to 25 players from active NFL rosters and up to 5 players from NFL Europe Rosters.

8. Players will receive $10,000 when selected, $25,000 when they report to training camp and an additional $15,000 if they make the teams final roster.

9. The drafted players cannot be traded back to the franchise they were drafted from.

At the start of the draft, the NFL announced that the Aztecs would be absorbing the Saints' 2007 draft class as compensation for missing the draft as well as priority meetings with free agents in the remaining 3 weeks until the start of training camp to help them competitively build their inaugural roster.

The Saints 2007 Draft Picks / Aztecs Contract:
1. WR Robert Meachem / 5 year 10.1M
2. CB Usama Young / 2 year 1.8M
3. LG Andy Alleman / 4 year 5.7M
4. LT Jermon Bushrod / 2 year 2.2M
5. CB David Jones / 1 year 1.1M
6. MLB Marvin Mitchell 1 year / 850K

The Aztecs 2007 Expansion Draft Results:
(list of players compiled by franchise trade block, depth of position, age and contract)

1. MLB - Bart Scott - Baltimore Ravens
2. DT - Pat Williams - Minnesota Vikings
3. RE - Alex Brown - Chicago Bears
4. C - Hank Fraley - Cleveland Browns
5. LG - Anthony Davis - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
6. RT - Todd Wade - Washington Redskins
7. LB - Kendrell Bell - Kansas City Chiefs
8. HB - Kenny Watson - Cincinnati Bengals
9. WR - Nate Burleson - Seattle Seahawks
10. QB - Mark Brunell - Washington Redskins
11. WR - Troy Williamson - Minnesota Vikings
12. TE - Dominique Byrd - St Louis Rams
13. CB - Andre Dyson - New York Jets
14. SS - Greg Wesley - Kansas City Chiefs
15. WR - Josh Cribbs - Cleveland Browns
16. CB - R.W. McQuarters - New York Giants

NFL Europe Draft Results:
1. QB - Travis Lulay - Berlin Thunder
2. SS - Chris Harrell - Berlin Thunder
3. DT - Daniel Benetka - Frankfurt Galaxy
4. WR - Rich Musinski - Berlin Thunder

The Aztecs now have a base for their franchise. We met with Eddie Vargas for an exclusive interview:

"We felt we had to address the offensive and defensive lines early in the draft. In the NFL everything starts up front. We were glad to see names like Pat Williams and Alex Brown. Both can be key contributors early and help us to stop opposing offenses from the jump."

With 5 of the first 10 players selected being on the offensive or defensive line its clear this team wants to be strong up front on both sides of the ball. We asked about why they didn't select a quarterback until the 10th pick:

"There wasn't any names that really jumped off the paper, we figured 'build the lines, get some skill on both sides, then see what you have to choose from'. The strategy worked well as we got veteran Mark Brunell with the 10th pick. We're excited to have Brunell and we hope he can help coach our young guy from Europe up to speed."

The Aztecs also drafted or absorbed 5 receivers and 6 players in the secondary:

"Good receivers can win you ball games. We want a lot of competition on both sides of the ball to catch and defend passes. The NFL is changing into a passing league so we need guys to defend some of the NFL's better receiving corps. We wanted our QB to have plenty of options and a diverse range of skill to work with on the offense. Overall, I'm happy with how our draft went and I am excited to have some good players to build around on both sides of the ball."

With players like Bart Scott, Kendrell Bell, Alex Brown, Kenny Watson and Troy Williamson, it should be interesting to see where this team goes in the future and how this season plays out.

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NFL Announces Division Realignment

With 3 days until the start of Training Camp, the NFL dropped a bomb. All 8 divisions have been realigned with multiple teams switching conferences and divisions.

NFL Standings - Updated: Jun 14, 2007
NFC EAST	W	L	T
Philadelphia Eagles
New York Giants
Baltimore Ravens
Washington Redskins
NFC NORTH	W	L	T
Chicago Bears
Indianapolis Colts
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
NFC SOUTH	W	L	T
Atlanta Falcons
Jacksonville Jaguars
Carolina Panthers
Houston Texans
NFC WEST	W	L	T
San Diego Chargers
San Francisco 49ers
Oakland Raiders
Seattle Seahawks
AFC EAST	W	L	T
Buffalo Bills
New York Jets
New England Patriots
Pittsburgh Steelers
AFC NORTH	W	L	T
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Detroit Lions
St Louis Rams
AFC SOUTH	W	L	T
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Dallas Cowboys
Miami Dolphins
TennesseeTitans
AFC WEST	W	L	T
Albuquerque Aztecs
Denver Broncos
Arizona Cardinals
Kansas City Chiefs

"We're all looking forward to the new divisions. It cuts team travel distance considerably which means more revenue for the teams. We did our best to keep most divisions integrity and we tried to keep teams close to their new in division rivals. With the addition of a new team, the NFL needed another realignment. I hope the competition stays fierce with more close to home rivalries."

One NFL representative said about the new divisions. We tend to agree. Teams on the west coast won't have to travel as far for divisional games and more 'un-official' rivalries have become 'official'. Just a few months removed from Super Bowl XLI, the Colts and Bears are division rivals. With Peyton Manning and Tom Brady being in different conferences all together it opens the door for a Colts-Pats Super Bowl in Arizona. Some of the biggest shockers are the Cowboys and Lions, both departing from their long tenured divisions to look for greener pastures in the American Football Conference. It's shaping up to be a one-of-a-kind season. Stay tuned for up to the minute reports from training camps set to kick-off on June 17th.

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Aztecs Fill Roster

With NFL teams entering training camp, the Aztecs have finally filled all roster spots. The Aztecs incoming free agents are headlined with a few big name players with tremendous upside. They added young kicker Nick Novak as well as experienced punter Scott Player. The roster is rounded out by safety LaMont Thompson, offensive tackle Courtney Van Buren and undrafted rookies TE Derek Schouman, RG Wes Sims, LDE Chase Pittman, and S CJ Gaddis. The Aztecs start training camp in 8 days. We all want to see how this team comes together before full contact drills start later in the month.

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Aztecs Roster Changes Following Training Camp

With training camps wrapping up we have learned a few things for the upcoming Aztecs season. We could expect to see 2nd year QB Travis Lulay from the NFL Europe actually start the season under center. He's shown a lot of promise and made big strides during the opening stages of training camp. Rookie receiver Robert Meachem will also be trying to win a starting role from Burleson and Williamson with an impressive showing.

In other news, 2nd overall pick RE Alex Brown didn't show up for camp along with CB Ahmad Carroll, both were traded yesterday. Owner Eduardo Vargas in a press conference:

"Brown didn't want to be here. We had tried to get him to come to one of the 4 days of walk throughs and relationship building. We had no choice but to trade him. At this point, if you don't want to be here, we don't want you here. We're looking for players to lead this team. Not showing up to camp and throwing a fit until you get traded is not what we want to show the young guys on this team."

Albuquerque traded Brown to the Dallas Cowboys for a 1st round pick and traded Carroll to the Philadelphia Eagles for CB Joselio Hanson and a 6th round pick. With the players on the Saints' roster becoming available to all teams, the Aztecs were given priority meetings and signed RE Will Smith for 24 million over 4 years with a 5 million dollar signing bonus. The Aztecs added another 1st round pick as well as gotten better on the defensive front all in one week.

Other Signings Around the League:

CIN - MLB Al Wilson, DEN - FB Cory Schlesinger, CLE - CB Mike McKenzie & DT Andrew Powell, TB - John Carney, ARI - C Jeff Faine, KC - K Mike Vanderjagt, IND - LE Charles Grant, MIA - LT Jamaal Brown, PHI - SS S Williams, ATL - RT M Williams, SF - QB Drew Brees, JAX - WR Antonio Bryant, DET - FB Zach Crockett, GB - HB Reggie Bush, NE - FB Mike Karney, STL - DT B Young, WAS - WR Marques Colston & P J Miller, SEA - RG Jahri Evans, TEN - HB Corey Dillon, MIN - WR Devery Henderson.

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Aztecs 2007 Roster & Captains Revealed

Following a 2-2 preseason where the Aztecs beat the Chargers and 49ers while losing to the Raiders and Redskins, the Aztecs have released their 2007 Depth Chart. The team also cut CB Joselio Hanson after he got beat several times in games. The Aztecs interim head coach also named QB Mark Brunell, DT Pat Williams and CB/KR RW McQuarters the teams captains for the 2007 season.

Aztecs Roster Depth Chart - 2007
Regular Offense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
WR	Nate Burleson	Robert Meachem (R)	Troy Williamson	Josh Cribbs
TE	Dominique Byrd	Derek Schouman (R)
LT	Courtney Van Buren	Jermon Bushrod (R)
LG	Anthony Davis	Andy Alleman (R)
C	Hank Fraley	Rob Smith
RG	Adam Timmerman	Wes Wims (R)
RT	Todd Wade	Steve Edwards
WR	Robert Meachem (R)	Troy Williamson	Rich Musinski	Josh Cribbs
QB	Travis Lulay	Mark Brunell
FB	James Hodgins
HB	Kenny Watson	Kevin Barlow	Eric Shelton
Base 4-3 Defense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	Courtney Brown	Chase Pittman (R)
LDT	Pat Williams	Jesse Mahelona
RDT	Daniel Benetka	Jesse Mahelona
RDE	Will Smith	Orien Harris
WLB	Kendrell Bell	Keith O'Neil
MLB	Bart Scott	Oscar Lua	Marvin Mitchell (R)
SLB	Rocky Calmus	Raonell Smith
CB	RW McQuarters	Chris Harrell
SS	Greg Wesley	Marques Anderson
FS	LaMont Thompson	CJ Gaddis (R)
CB	Andre Dyson	Usama Young (R)	David Jones (R)
Special Teams
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
K	Nick Novak
P	Scott Player
H	Mark Brunell
PR	RW McQuarters	Nate Burleson	Josh Cribbs
KR	RW McQuarters	Nate Burleson	Josh Cribbs
LS	Hank Fraley	Adam Timmerman	Andy Alleman (R)