Madden 2005 Update

I've won my first Super Bowl, beating up on the New England Patriots 63-13 in a rainy game at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville. A game before that, I beat the Seattle Seahawks 91-3 in the NFC Championship game.

But then came the off-season. I re-signed a couple of my restricted free agents, Brian Williams and Chris Claiborne (both All-Pro) and moved on to my unstricted free agent list. On top of that list was Chris Hovan, who I signed to a 4-year deal worth around 25 million. After all was said and done, I only had about $2.25 million left in salary cap room (after I started out with over $18 million) and I didn't even start my NFL Draft yet!

Since my punter retired, my first round pick was a punter, which garnered a lot of boos. My second round pick was Zack Mills, a quarterback out of Penn State. Cheers!

I went on through the draft, picking up Darren Sproles, a running back from Kansas State and picking up other defensive players. But I didn't enough money to sign all of my guys. I only signed my punter and Mills, and anybody who I picked in the 3rd round and under, I couldn't sign. Before training camp began, I was missing four players, so I needed one guard, two tackles, and a cornerback. I cut a couple of players and signed guys on REALLY cheap -- so all in all, I'm lacking depth at some positions.

I haven't started any of my pre-season games yet, but I jacked up with level of difficulty to All-Pro, so hopefully that'll give me a challenge as I go for my second straight Super Bowl!

Things to think about for the future: all three of my running backs are having contracts to expire at the end of the Second Season; Michael Bennett, Moe Williams, and Ontarrio Smith. I also need to think about my coaches, since head coach Mike Tice's contract is up.

Whoofta!