NFL Offseason '18: Our American Cousins

[Jace, Extat]

8 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

The thing with Teddy, as I know you’re well aware, is that you don’t know if he can sustain hits on a week to week basis and I’m sure he’s looking to get paid because he knows that too. His next contract could be his last and he’s going to want to be paid like a starter. Combine that with the Vikings emotional attachment to him and you can easily see them over paying him. They’re probably right to let him walk and wish him nothing but the best.

As far as Cousins goes, I could live with a three year deal at $30m per year, but you cannot guarantee the whole amount.

Nah, it's good man. 3 years is typically all the guarantees anyways, this gives both sides the opportunity to move on but give it an honest chance.

[Bronn Stone]

The guns have gone silent.

Ed Hochuli retired today as an NFL ref.

Sad.  So sad.  Life is empty and full of pain.

[DanteGabriel]

14 minutes ago, Bronn Stone said:

The guns have gone silent.

Ed Hochuli retired today as an NFL ref.

Sad.  So sad.  Life is empty and full of pain.

Word is that his son is replacing him. Dunno if he's equally buff, but life finds a way.

[Bronn Stone]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwibxabErdjZAhUor1QKHeGQDioQjRx6BAgAEAY&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fnotshawnhochuli&psig=AOvVaw2trT-Nsl-Tey8re7L0h-CX&ust=1520448317019503

The Second Amendment has failed.  Guns were confiscated, it seems.

[Rhom]

2 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

As far as Cousins goes, I could live with a three year deal at $30m per year, but you cannot guarantee the whole amount.

 

2 hours ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

Nah, it's good man. 3 years is typically all the guarantees anyways, this gives both sides the opportunity to move on but give it an honest chance.

I don't know the Vikings cap situation, but if you can front load that deal so it hits worse this year and eases up in the next two; that could allow them to pay their young defensive players as they come off those rookie deals.

[Jace, Extat]

1 minute ago, Rhom said:

 

I don't know the Vikings cap situation, but if you can front load that deal so it hits worse this year and eases up in the next two; that could allow them to pay their young defensive players as they come off those rookie deals.

They're fine. The cap is going up so much so fast that they'll have no trouble squeezing him in. Aaron Rodgers is going to hit 33 mil a year.

[aceluby]

1 hour ago, Rhom said:

 

I don't know the Vikings cap situation, but if you can front load that deal so it hits worse this year and eases up in the next two; that could allow them to pay their young defensive players as they come off those rookie deals.

We have like $50-60 mil in cap space.  I saw #'s that had them squeezing everyone in + a $30 mil/yr quaterback before the extra cap space was added, so I don't think they have much to worry about at this point.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

4 hours ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

Nah, it's good man. 3 years is typically all the guarantees anyways, this gives both sides the opportunity to move on but give it an honest chance.

I'd just like a situation where we can get out of a deal after two years if it's not a fit, but it's still better than some of the 5 year deals I've heard floating around.

1 hour ago, aceluby said:

We have like $50-60 mil in cap space.  I saw #'s that had them squeezing everyone in + a $30 mil/yr quaterback before the extra cap space was added, so I don't think they have much to worry about at this point.

Looks like it's a little lower than that, but not by much. Still, it's fair to argue we're a team that could actually make this work. I'm just not sure how much they can front load it though. We have to replace 15 players on our roster. I'd be surprised if we let Tom Johnson walk, and it's going to hurt to lose McKinnon, but otherwise we're not losing a lot. It be nice if we could take some of that cap space and keep working on the O-Line. We're good pretty much every where else, so we could worry about adding depth during the draft.

Still, I keep getting stuck on this question: Is Cousins worth $12m more than Bradford? 

[Jace, Extat]

5 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I'd just like a situation where we can get out of a deal after two years if it's not a fit, but it's still better than some of the 5 year deals I've heard floating around.

Looks like it's a little lower than that, but not by much. Still, it's fair to argue we're a team that could actually make this work. I'm just not sure how much they can front load it though. We have to replace 15 players on our roster. I'd be surprised if we let Tom Johnson walk, and it's going to hurt to lose McKinnon, but otherwise we're not losing a lot. It be nice if we could take some of that cap space and keep working on the O-Line. We're good pretty much every where else, so we could worry about adding depth during the draft.

Still, I keep getting stuck on this question: Is Cousins worth $12m more than Bradford? 

How good are Samy's knees?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

44 minutes ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

How good are Samy's knees?

When healthy, how big is the difference between the two? 

[Jace, Extat]

14 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

When healthy, how big is the difference between the two? 

I'm not terrified that Kirk will 'splode

[aceluby]

18 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

When healthy, how big is the difference between the two? 

How can you ignore health?  We spent $18M for him to sit the bench last year.  Is saving that $12M worth it knowing that a backup will have to start anywhere from 2-15 games?

Sam is a super risky investment that was worth it 2 years ago, but has passed its expiration date.

[Maithanet]

3 minutes ago, aceluby said:

How can you ignore health?  We spent $18M for him to sit the bench last year.  Is saving that $12M worth it knowing that a backup will have to start anywhere from 2-15 games?

Sam is a super risky investment that was worth it 2 years ago, but has passed its expiration date.

Cousins has been available for 53/53 (100%) of the games he's been asked to start from 2014 onward. 

Bradford has been available for 80/127 (63%) of the games he should have started since entering the league in 2010.  So if you assume that Bradford will be as healthy at age 31 as he has been the past eight years (which I think is a bad assumption), then you should count on Bradford missing 37% of the season.  So on a per game basis, paying Bradford $18 million for 63% of the season is almost exactly the same rate as paying Cousins $30 million for the whole year.  The problem is with Bradford you still have to have the backup qb in for an extended period of time, which will probably destroy any SB hopes. 

So any "when healthy" what if is meaningless for Bradford.  And regardless, Cousins is better than Bradford. 

[Jaime L]

4 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

Cousins has been available for 53/53 (100%) of the games he's been asked to start from 2014 onward. 

Bradford has been available for 80/127 (63%) of the games he should have started since entering the league in 2010.  So if you assume that Bradford will be as healthy at age 31 as he has been the past eight years (which I think is a bad assumption), then you should count on Bradford missing 37% of the season.  So on a per game basis, paying Bradford $18 million for 63% of the season is almost exactly the same rate as paying Cousins $30 million for the whole year.  The problem is with Bradford you still have to have the backup qb in for an extended period of time, which will probably destroy any SB hopes. 

So any "when healthy" what if is meaningless for Bradford.  And regardless, Cousins is better than Bradford. 

[/thread]

[Jace, Extat]

Micheal Bennett to the Iggles!

[Rhom]

I have recently gained more perspective on the difficulties of concussions with young athletes.

My 14 year old step-daughter is playing on a club volleyball team.  We paid over $600 for her to be on the team.  About five weeks ago, she was screwing around in the hallway at school and some boy did the whole "what's that on your shirt -- flick the chin when you look down" routine and she threw her head back into the wall and hit her head.  She didn't tell us about it and that night at practice she got flushed, felt dizzy, and had headaches.  The next day when she was still complaining, we sent her to the trainer at school to evaluate her compared to the baseline study they perform on all athletes at the beginning of the school year.  

We are almost a month and a half out and she still has lingering symptoms.  Occasional headaches.  Irritability.  Describes being fuzzy headed.  We were referred to a neuro specialist in Louisville and have seen him twice now.  She deals with some ADHD and anxiety issues as well, so he says that her recovery time is not unusual with the complicating factors.  

All she wants to do is play.  We are watching the money we paid for her to play go down the drain.  She is aggravated that we are reducing her screen time.  She's going to PT a couple times a week.  And honestly, all I can think at times is that she's a moody teenager and how am I supposed to know the difference between her concussion symptoms and her general attitude.  And none of those symptoms are things you can "see."  

While talking to the trainer last night about our follow up with the neuro doc, he told me of a high school athlete he's been working with that had three diagnosed concussions in the last twelve months and each one took almost four months to heal.  He told the athlete and his parents that football might not be in his best interest in the coming year... but the kid insists on playing.

In light of my experience and the kid the trainer told me about, I can see how NFL players fall into this trap.  Its easy to brush off these symptoms as being unrelated.  I have to say that the fact that high school sports are taking these things this seriously is a step in the right direction.

[James Arryn]

2 hours ago, Jaime L said:

[/thread]

The “100%” clarification was the clincher. 

 

Re: concussions, etc. I am scared. I not only played football for years (running back, too) but boxed, martial arts, etc. And actually my worst head injury was in baseball, field with no warning track and those stupid mid-leg high fences, wind in ears blocked out teammates warnings going back for a fly ball, woke up in ambulance, had hit fence full speed, pitched over head 1st into metal light tower, completely unconscious...missed ball, too. Anyways, point is my head’s taken a pounding and i’m truly scared what it might mean. 

[Jace, Extat]

Alec Ogeltree to the Giants for two undisclosed picks.

A new era of NFL Trades?

[Maithanet]

7 minutes ago, James Arryn said:

The “100%” clarification was the clincher.

I like to be thorough.  Some people give 100%, but only a select few give 53/53 (100%). 

[Ramsay B.]

36 minutes ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

Alec Ogeltree to the Giants for two undisclosed picks.

A new era of NFL Trades?

4th and 6th round picks. Giants also have a comp 4th so not a big deal. They need some speed at LB so I like it... although $10 million cap hit is a bit much. Glad Gettleman values LB more than Reese but every move that doesn't involve making the O-line better makes me nervous.