Re-signing period over: What's it all mean?

Wednesday was the deadline for AFL teams to re-sign potential free agents, and the Storm took advantage of it, keeping defensive end Mark Word in the fold.

But several key members of last year's team appear poised to test the free agent market, including defensive back Jeroid Johnson and defensive end Tom Briggs.

Storm head coach/general manager Tim Marcum is a big fan of Johnson's, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a concerted effort to keep the defensive back around. But on Johnson's part, its a wise move to test the market. He finished last season second in the league in interceptions, with 10, and played particularly well down the stretch.

Marcum told me after the season that he wanted to keep Briggs around for another year. Briggs, meanwhile, said he wanted to play another year. But the veteran defensive end has not been signed.

The Storm did re-sign a pair of long-time players, wide receiver Lawrence Samuels and lineman Ernest Certain, but three more won't be back with the team next year: offensive lineman Rod Williams, linebacker Nyle Wiren, and quarterback John Kaleo.

Chiefs sign Sippio

Here's your latest Bobby Sippio update, courtesy of the Sun-Times.

Don't get all excited: Sippio's likely nothing more than training camp fodder. Then again, he's proved people wrong before.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/rush/507882,CST-SPT-rush13.article

Lightning sale could affect Storm. . .

It wasn't exactly the Colts moving to Baltimore in the middle of the night, but the sale of the Lightning made for several surpised Cheerio-eaters this morning.

The Storm is obviously a sidenote in what is sure to be an interesting transaction, but don't underestimate the impact the sale could have on the team's future.

First, the basics: Woody Kern, the Texas businessman who brought the team to Tampa, still owns the team. At the time of the sale (aka, last night), the Storm was in the middle of negotiations with Palace Sports, the company that owned the Lightning, to renew its lease with the St. Pete Times Forum. The team had been negotiating with Forum execs Ron Campbell and Sean Henry, and, according to coach/GM Tim Marcum, were working toward an agreement.

"I think we’ve got a lot of common ground," Marcum said. "We’ve been doing this for eight years. It just makes sense that we continue forward."

Some associated with the organziation feel as if the change could affect the Storm in a positive way. Kern, who commutes to Tampa during the season from his home in Texas, has been actively attempting to sell the team. Palace Sports told the Times earlier this season that it was not interested in purchasing the Storm. It remains to be seen how much of an interest this new ownership group has in purchasing the team.

Marcum just found out about the change this morning.

"Hopefully we’ll transition this thing," Marcum said. "Any time there is change like this, you have to meet with the new owners and hope that you can find some common ground."

Around the Offseason in 80 Days. . .

It's been awhile since I've fired up the ol' blog. You guys know how the summer goes.

But I figured I'd check in with some thoughts on some developments going on in Storm world. The biggest, it seems, is Pat O'Hara's cross-country job search. The former Storm quarterback and current offensive co-ordinator interviewed for the head coaching vacancy in Grand Rapids and right now is a finalist for the opening in Arizona.

O'Hara lost out on the Grand Rapids opening to Georgia Force offensive co-ordinator Steve Thonn, who became the fifth head coach in the franchise's history. Here's a link to the story on the Rampage's web site: http://rampagefootball.com/news/pressreleases/index.html?article_id=4650

It remains to be seen what happens in Arizona. The scuttlebutt out West is that San Jose Saber Cats defensive co-ordinator Kevin Guy is the front runner (O'Hara interviewed Wednesday). But I have no doubt that at some point, O'Hara is going to be hired as an AFL coach, and whatever team does will be making a franchise-making decision. It might not be this year, but spend a few minutes around him and you'll realize that this guy was meant to be a head coach. He has a calm, cool, analytical demeanor that reaks of coachiness (I just made that word up). More importantly, he immediately commands respect from his players, which was evident to anyone who spent time around the team this year.

Other updates: As noted earlier, Terrill Shaw is back in the fold. Storm coach Tim Marcum all but said he wanted to re-sign Shaw, but it wasn't clear if the wide receiver wanted to be back. Shaw had expressed some frustration with the offense earlier in the season, but appeared to find his groove later in the year after the departure of No. 1 wide-out T.T. Toliver.

After eclipsing 100 yards receiving in just one of the first nine games, Shaw caught for over 100 in seven of the last eight, including the playoff loss to Columbus.

He finished the year with 100 catches for 1,402 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Veteran receiver Lawrence Samuels is also back in the fold, but it remains to be seen what the Storm is going to do about acquiring a second big-play receiver. Samuels' role in the offense is largely short-yardage and red-zone situations. He's a vital part of the offense -- there's nobody I'd trust more in a must-have situation -- but the Storm still needs a serious No. 2 wideout with top-shelf speed, agility and play-making ability. Don't expect them to get one until the start of the free agent signing period in the fall.