NFL 2016 Offseaon: free agency freakout

[Jace, Extat]

Josh Gordon reportedly tested positive for trace amounts of marijuana last month.

[trickster]

1 hour ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

Josh Gordon reportedly tested positive for trace amounts of marijuana last month.

In other news JFF is now his roomie

https://twitter.com/espn/status/719607995953508355/photo/1

 

[l2 0 5 5]

Ok so color me confused with the Josh Gordon issue. He fails a drug test and gets suspended for the year, and when he fails again during his ban he gets a 60-90 window to be clean and he can be reinstated. Maybe I'm missing the point of these ironclad NFL rules, but shouldn't he of been suspended for another year? Does failing a drug test while being on a ban actually have smaller consequences? Wowzers...

[Maithanet]

Titans trade the #1 pick to the Rams. 

Article on CBSsports

Quote

 

Los Angeles traded the No. 15 overall pick in this draft, two second-round picks (No. 43 overall and No. 45 overall) and a fourth-round pick (No. 114 overall). They also gave up their No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

The Rams also receive a fourth-round pick (No. 113 overall) and sixth-round pick (No. 177 overall) in 2016.

 

 

[Ferrum Aeternum]

16 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

Titans trade the #1 pick to the Rams. 

Article on CBSsports

 

Are any of the QBs in this draft good enough to warrant giving up that much? From what I've seen, no one can quite figure out who's the best among Goff, Wentz and Lynch, and none are seen as guys who can come in and make a difference right away. 

Titans are huge winners in this deal. They'll have six of the top 76 picks in this draft plus two next year. Speaking of which, I thought this was funny:

They also gave up their No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

[Maithanet]

5 minutes ago, Ferrum Aeternum said:

Are any of the QBs in this draft good enough to warrant giving up that much? From what I've seen, no one can quite figure out who's the best among Goff, Wentz and Lynch, and none are seen as guys who can come in and make a difference right away. 

Titans are huge winners in this deal. They'll have six of the top 76 picks in this draft plus two next year. Speaking of which, I thought this was funny:

This seems like a great haul for the Titans.  I've read different final draft hauls, but it looks like it is 2 1st rounders, 2 second rounders, and some change.  That's a LOT.  Lots of pundits said that this wouldn't be an RG3 level haul, but this is actually close.  Yes, the 1st rounder is pick #15 instead of pick #6, and it is a 2016 mid-second rounder instead of a 2018 first round pick, so it is less, but that is still a HUGE bounty.

As for whom, presumably the Rams are in love with either Goff or Wentz.  From what I've read, Lynch is well below those two.  Nobody is really sure who the Browns are taking at #2, so if you want Wentz but not Goff or visa versa, you need pick #1 to make it happen.

Regardless, it reeks of desperation.  I do not think that Wentz or Goff are considered near the prospects that Mariota/Winston were last year, or even approaching guys like Luck, Griffin or Newton.

[Tywin et al.]

12 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

This seems like a great haul for the Titans. 

It's a great trade indeed. This draft doesn't have a premier talent at any position, and the Rams will probably be bad this year, so they should get a high pick next year. Smart play by the Titans.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

25 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

Nobody is really sure who the Browns are taking at #2, so if you want Wentz but not Goff or visa versa, you need pick #1 to make it happen.

Regardless, it reeks of desperation.  I do not think that Wentz or Goff are considered near the prospects that Mariota/Winston were last year, or even approaching guys like Luck, Griffin or Newton.

Yeah exactly - I can understand taking one of those guys if you already have a top 5 pick. But trading up to #1 from #15 for any player who's not a sure thing is just ludicrous.

[sperry]

Yeah the Titans killed it. And the Rams gonna Ram.

[Maithanet]

3 minutes ago, Ferrum Aeternum said:

Yeah exactly - I can understand taking one of those guys if you already have a top 5 pick. But trading up from #15 for any player who's not a sure thing is just ludicrous.

It is very questionable.  Early reports are that it is Wentz, the guy that none of us had even heard of at the end of this season.  He's going from North Dakota State to being the starting qb in LA.  And they're on Hard Knocks.  Good luck with that.

[DanteGabriel]

Stupid fucking Rams. I hope it's not Goff they draft. I always root for UC Berkeley players in the pros, would hate to see him end up getting mismanaged by this shitball organization. But wait, if Goff makes it past the first pick, he might end up with the Browns, right? Ugh.

Best Twitter reaction I've seen so far: "Hey look, Jeff Fisher is finally helping the Titans win."

[Fez]

The Rams are letting secondary considerations get in the way of doing the best job they can of putting a winning team together; namely, having a marketable face they can plaster on all the billboards in LA to get attention from potential fans.

[Trebla]

29 minutes ago, Ferrum Aeternum said:

Are any of the QBs in this draft good enough to warrant giving up that much? From what I've seen, no one can quite figure out who's the best among Goff, Wentz and Lynch, and none are seen as guys who can come in and make a difference right away. 

Titans are huge winners in this deal. They'll have six of the top 76 picks in this draft plus two next year. Speaking of which, I thought this was funny:

 

 

From everything I've read, they aren't. I don't think anyone projects any of these guys as an instant starter like Cam/Luck.RG3  or the two last year were. Jon Gruden has been the only one to totally fall in love with one of them, and it is Wentz who he compared to Luck. That's a bold statement considering Luck came in being able to run a pro style offense against big time college programs and Wentz was a Div 2 QB.

After Dallas was put out of their misery this past season, I was saying how excited I was for Dallas to be in the top 5 of the draft and be in a position to draft a QB. As time has gone by and I've read the magazines and articles online, I started backing off from that. My belief as of yesterday was that Dallas should grab one of the elite defensive players in the draft or trade down and get a haul of picks. With Tennessee trading down, it's now unlikely for the trade down since Wentz and Goff should go 1 and 2 and Paxton Lynch does not appear to rate as a high first rounder. 

So for my beloved Cowboys, my hope is the draft goes like this:

1. Rams: Wentz

2. Browns: Goff

3. Chargers: Tunsil

4. Cowboys:  DE Jerry Bosa or CB/S Jalen Ramsey

Who to pick between the two? Pass rush is a HUGE need but have seen many people say Ramsey is the better player. If you go best player available, it will get even trickier if Tunsil somehow gets by San Diego. Most experts consider him the best overall player in the draft and maybe the only truly elite/can't miss player on the board. Could Dallas draft ANOTHER O-Lineman?

[Ferrum Aeternum]

5 minutes ago, Trebla said:

4. Cowboys:  DE Jerry Bosa or CB/S Jalen Ramsey

Who to pick between the two? Pass rush is a HUGE need but have seen many people say Ramsey is the better player. If you go best player available, it will get even trickier if Tunsil somehow gets by San Diego. Most experts consider him the best overall player in the draft and maybe the only truly elite/can't miss player on the board. Could Dallas draft ANOTHER O-Lineman?

The Chargers have to be doing cartwheels this morning with the now virtual certainty of landing Tunsil. Scouts see him as an All-Pro LT who can step right in and start - precisely what that team needs.

I think the Cowboys get a win-win with either Bosa or Ramsey, since both are potentially great players who fill a need.

So to sum up - the top 2 teams in the draft will be gambling the future on QBs with question marks, while the teams following them take franchise players. Gotta love the draft.

[sperry]

QB is the least of the Ram's worries.  They have no talent on their roster outside of the defensive line, and now Gurley.  That's why they can't win.

 

Good luck Carson Wentz throwing to Kenny Britt and Tavon Austin, behind an atrocious offensive line.  Their only saving grace is that Jeff Fisher will probably give Todd Gurley 500 carries this season.

[Rhom]

I'm just relieved because I thought the Niners would be drafting a mediocre QB at 7.  Hopefully they can go with a BPA.

That might require more aptitude than I'm ready to credit Baalke with though.  Interestingly though, it might make them more likely to hang onto Kaepernick.

And yes, I also thought the "No 1 overall pick in 2017" was hilarious... Because that's exactly where I expect the Rams to be drafting.

[Joe Pesci]

This reeks of desperation to hype the 1st season in LA, and then say fuck it to the next 5. Titans for the win!

[Jaime L]

4 minutes ago, sperry said:

QB is the least of the Ram's worries.  They have no talent on their roster outside of the defensive line, and now Gurley.  That's why they can't win.

QB is the greatest of the Rams worries. Can have a million picks from the RG3 trade but you're still a middling team without a franchise QB. And even if they used all their draft picks on offensive talent it still wouldn't matter if they're trotting Case Keenum out there. I think this is a terrible idea for the 31 other franchises but for the Rams i kinda get it. How much longer are you going to try to win the hard way? 

What's great from my perspective is this is tacit admission from the Rams that despite that haul, they still failed. And failed enough that they now chose to take the other side of a deal they crowed about for years. 

[Maithanet]

3 minutes ago, Jaime L said:

What's great from my perspective is this is tacit admission from the Rams that despite that haul, they still failed. And failed enough that they now chose to take the other side of a deal they crowed about for years. 

I'm also finding some enjoyment in that. 

22 minutes ago, sperry said:

QB is the least of the Ram's worries.  They have no talent on their roster outside of the defensive line, and now Gurley.  That's why they can't win.

Good luck Carson Wentz throwing to Kenny Britt and Tavon Austin, behind an atrocious offensive line.  Their only saving grace is that Jeff Fisher will probably give Todd Gurley 500 carries this season.

I think you are overstating how poorly off the Rams are.  The Rams have a great running back and quite possibly the best D line in the game.  That is a LOT, and it was enough to go 7-9 in a tough division in spite of horrible QB play.  Yes, they have holes in the secondary and O line, but seriously, all teams have holes.  If the Rams had good qb play (not great, just Andy Dalton/Matt Ryan good), they could easily be an 11 win team. 

Now, there's no guarantee Wentz will be that guy.  But that's a separate matter.

[sperry]

5 minutes ago, Jaime L said:

QB is the greatest of the Rams worries. Can have a million picks from the RG3 trade but you're still a middling team without a franchise QB. And even if they used all their draft picks on offensive talent it still wouldn't matter if they're trotting Case Keenum out there. I think this is a terrible idea for the 31 other franchises but for the Rams i kinda get it. How much longer are you going to try to win the hard way? 

What's great from my perspective is this is tacit admission from the Rams that despite that haul, they still failed. And failed enough that they now chose to take the other side of a deal they crowed about for years. 

 

Rams should know first hand that your QB can't succeed with no talent around him.  They went through that process 6 years ago.  Those draft picks that they just lit on fire could have been used to get offensive linemen and skill position weapons to help a QB.