NFL 2022 Offseason, Draft, Free Agency

[stevew]

I don’t like that Trubisky only gets 2.5m last year, then is suddenly worth 14-27 million this year. And that his OC on the Bills was basically like “I’m good” when he moved to become the HC of the Giants. Daboll gave a similar contract to Tyrod Taylor instead.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by stevew

I don’t like that Trubisky only gets 2.5m last year, then is suddenly worth 14-27 million this year. And that his OC on the Bills was basically like “I’m good” when he moved to become the HC of the Giants. Daboll gave a similar contract to Tyrod Taylor instead.

Mr. Biscuit sure got his gravy.

[QuikSand]

The Watson thing is fascinating, with the underground universe of "sources" across the league. Each day there's a new wave of everyone knows he's heading to Seattle, I mean everyone for a day (that was Monday, I think), and then it's on to someone new. Falcons get their day in the sun right now, I guess. No idea where the wheel stops on this.

[Solecismic]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Meh, I can get past it. There's probably plenty of douchebags on any team.

He also hasn't been convicted of anything either, except by the media.

So far, he's been tried in the media, yes. We've heard the allegations. They sound awful - no team could put a guy on the field guilty of some of what's been alleged.

He's entitled to defend himself and, frankly, after hearing those allegations and seeing that a Grand Jury declined to indict, I'm starting to think that perhaps there's very little there after all. Maybe I'm wrong.

Several NFL teams seem willing to gamble the franchise that this is going away with either no suspension or a short one. NFL teams aren't going to make that move without having their own experts chime in. The NFL itself has interviewed some of the women making complaints.

To me, the far bigger problem at this point is that Watson signed a huge contract with enormous amounts of guaranteed money and wanted out after one year. Houston may get enough back in picks to soften that blow, but it's still a blow. For that reason, I'm surprised teams want him so badly.

And of course Cleveland remains Cleveland. They hurt their relationship with their franchise quarterback only to get told that Watson doesn't want to play there after all. Why? I don't know. Cleveland has built something and it would be a good situation for a franchise quarterback, but I can't help but notice that every other team that's been a serious part of this is not in a cold-winter city. Simple homework on Cleveland's part might have avoided the mess.

The game might be a bit out of balance right now in that it seems there's maybe 15-20 quarterbacks, at best, considered capable of leading a decent NFL offense. If that's the case and you put up with stuff like Watson's holdout, then they hold all the cards and the price is just going to keep going up. You never would have thought it when he signed it, but perhaps Mahomes' record-setting contract might be seriously under market a year or so from now.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I simply couldn't root for a team with Watson on it.

That's where I am leaning. I have been a fan of the Falcons for my whole life. It is going to be really hard to be a fan if he is the face of the franchise. I have been pulling away from the NFL for awhile, and this might be the stake in the heart of my interest.

[albionmoonlight]

FOFC is a strange and special place.

I don't imagine that there's a lot of places on the internet right now where Saints and Falcons fans are each saying that they hope the other guy gets the franchise QB b/c he is such a creepball.

[Atocep]

Allen Robinson signs with the Rams and will play with a competent QB and favorable offensive system for the first time in his career.

[Ksyrup]

I don't think Mayfield is a franchise QB in the truest sense of the word and he's certainly been up and down, but there's no question he was a walking injury for most of last year and that clearly affected his play, right? It feels like this was more of a chance to upgrade for a hotter girl who was only batting her eyes at you from across the room to make 4 other guys jealous.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

The Watson thing is fascinating, with the underground universe of "sources" across the league. Each day there's a new wave of everyone knows he's heading to Seattle, I mean everyone for a day (that was Monday, I think), and then it's on to someone new. Falcons get their day in the sun right now, I guess. No idea where the wheel stops on this.

I also get the impression you could do this with like one or two well placed and completely self-interested sources - a couple of agents - and if you just keep pumping the story to enough outlets, a couple will take it to get the scoop. Then the major outlets will talk about it as a possible rumor, further elevating it.

SI

[jbergey22]

Mayfield has an alarmingly bad sense of self awareness. He is a below average NFL QB making 18m+ and is requesting a trade. He would be lucky if he doesnt get cut. Hes been poor other than the 2020 season in which he was "meh" with the greatest rushing attack in the NFL.

A replacement at his level wouldnt be hard to find.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I don't think Mayfield is a franchise QB in the truest sense of the word and he's certainly been up and down, but there's no question he was a walking injury for most of last year and that clearly affected his play, right? It feels like this was more of a chance to upgrade for a hotter girl who was only batting her eyes at you from across the room to make 4 other guys jealous.

It is comparable to the Eagles finding a replacement for Wentz. Once they realized he wasnt any good it was easy to move on without him.

[Solecismic]

Anyone who can figure out for certain who is and is not a franchise quarterback could run the NFL.

The GOAT is a sixth-round pick who likely never plays if not for a freak (and life-threatening) injury to a franchise quarterback the year after he's drafted.

His Hall-of-Famer rival who is a near-GOAT was the first pick of the draft, yet it seemed 50/50 whether he'd go ahead of a guy who went 4-17 in 21 career starts.

The wild card in play is what happens when a guy goes from college to the NFL and the game speeds up and defenses are disguised because this is a job and it's possible to have 100 looks in the playbook for a season with maybe 20-30 possible for a given game.

Try that in college when practice time is limited and everyone this side of Alabama has to protect a few starters who simply aren't fast enough or good enough or dedicated enough to cover much of anything.

Brady certainly didn't set the world on fire with his first season's stats. It's been said many times that the infamous Tuck Rule might be the only difference between returning to the bench in 2002 with Bledsoe back on the field. He didn't have a rating over 86.5 until his fourth season.

This makes me think that there are likely several other quarterbacks out there who have enough talent to make an NFL roster, but have never gotten enough reps in games to show that they can handle the faster NFL game.

Also, more seems to be about coaching and offensive scheme than some would like to admit.

All that said, trying to identify a quarterback with limited experience who looks, statistically, like he could become great... can't do it. You have to get that 5-10 games in that may be awful (Manning was awful in his rookie year) before much of anything should count. My only thought from recent years is that maybe Gardner Minshew is worth a longer look if he's solving his fumbling issues.

[Ksyrup]

Packers trading Adams to the Raiders for 2 2022 picks. AFC West should be auto-qualifiers for the playoffs.

[miami_fan]

Has anyone checked on Rodgers?

[Ksyrup]

He clearly didn't do his research before signing his contract.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Has anyone checked on Rodgers?

It would be hilarious if they were still making those decisions without his input at this point.

[Ksyrup]

Tweet I just saw says he was aware of trade discussions but they had gone dead yesterday before coming back to life today.

[bhlloy]

That’s even funnier than the troll that Brady pulled on the guy who bought his “last” TD ball. This is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

Video of Baker Mayfield's arrest released - YouTube

I'd give him about a 7/100 on Sensing the Rush.

That also looked like 1 for Acceleration in FM parlance. Ooof.

[Solecismic]

According to reports, the Packers were willing to give him a similar contract, but he had decided to hold out if he wasn't traded. Whether he was ticked off about the franchise tag or he simply prefers Carr to Rodgers is unclear. Rodgers may be unhappy about it, but it doesn't sound like it was the Packers' fault. They can buy an awful lot, plus two good draft picks.

I'm still laughing about the Browns saying they wanted "an adult" for the quarterback position. Not only do they create a situation where the only way Mayfield could save face and stay is to get paid - likely a lot more than he's worth. But then they torpedo his trade value with a comment like that just before putting him on the block. If there's ever a textbook written on how not to run a franchise, there needs to be a chapter on the Browns for sheer front office incompetence along with a Lions chapter on how to screw up the draft. Johnny Manziel could write the forward.

Not sure what the Patriots are doing. I was quite impressed by how much they got out of Jones last season - easily the best total production of the rookie quarterbacks. But it seems like they lose so much talent every year, I always wonder if they go too far. This time, I think they may be in for a difficult season.

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Has anyone checked on Rodgers?

Taking away his blanket away like he used vs. SF might make him a better QB.

[Lathum]

congrats Raiders on still being the 4th best team in the division

[molson]

The Browns are getting completely trashed on Reddit and social media for the Mayfield thing. But I don't think he's at a level that a team who employs him just isn't allowed to look for upgrades. He wants to be traded to the Colts, but, does that even make sense for them? Who wants their team to commit long term to Baker Mayfield?

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

It is comparable to the Eagles finding a replacement for Wentz. Once they realized he wasnt any good it was easy to move on without him.

Carson Wentz is on a 4/$128m contract, multiple teams have traded serious draft assets to acquire him on that contract, and the Eagles went down 31-0 in their playoff game before they got to play vs a prevent defense and may or may not have a long term starting QB in Jalen Hurts. I'm not saying Baker is a franchise QB, but he can definitely get a lot of guaranteed money on the open market.

Btw saw this "The Falcons on Thursday pushed back the $7.5 million roster bonus due to quarterback Matt Ryan from Friday to Tuesday, sources told Schefter. The move gives Atlanta four extra days to hear Watson's decision and be able to trade Ryan if necessary." - what could the Falcons legally offer under the salary rules to grease that along? I'm sure Matty Ice is a good soldier, but if it's just asking him to push guarantee dates out further into free agency so they can try to get a shinier QB before cutting him I feel like I'd call their bluff.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

Not sure what the Patriots are doing. I was quite impressed by how much they got out of Jones last season - easily the best total production of the rookie quarterbacks. But it seems like they lose so much talent every year, I always wonder if they go too far. This time, I think they may be in for a difficult season.

Which part? Mason for a 5 was a surprise - sliding Onwenu in for him wouldn't have been, but with Ted Karras leaving the same day it was a little interesting. We'll see what happens with Trent Brown. JC Jackson was going to happen if he wanted to get paid - rightly or wrongly they think they can take the compensatory 3rd & replace him with another UDFA (or Shaun Wade). Hightower might still be back but he's old... (McCourty old too, but he's back so at least you have one veteran leader to direct things I guess.)

It's not like I've loved anything they've done this offseason, but that's always been their MO outside of the one year in 7 they spend big, and I guess outside of the Shaq move I don't see a surprising talent drain.

[flere-imsaho]

It feels like there are 3 tiers of QBs now:

1. Legit or soon-to-be legit franchise QBs that are almost mandatory to win a SB: Murray, Allen, Rodgers, Mahomes, Stafford, R. Wilson, Brady, Herbert.

1a. Could be in the group above but too early to tell: Lawrence, M. Jonest, Z. Wilson, T. Lance.

2. QBs who are good enough to convince you that you could win a SB "if you have a good team around them" but mainly exist to keep GMs from being fired and make a lot of money doing so: M. Ryan, Dalton, Prescott, Carr, Tua, Cousins, Garoppolo, Tannehill, Mariota.

3. Everyone else. If you have one of these guys you're fucked, you know you're fucked, everyone knows you're fucked, you know that everyone knows you're fucked, and everyone knows that you know that everyone knows you're fucked.

[Ksyrup]

Watson traded to Browns. I wonder if they backed themselves into a corner and had to do it.

[Ksyrup]

I'd say so, given the haul...

The Browns are trading three first-round picks, and two additional picks to the Texans for QB Deshaun Watson, per sources. Wow. Wow. Wow.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 18, 2022

[Solecismic]

Oh, Browns. I guess it only takes one, but $230 million/5 years and all those picks... you still need 45 other active players on a given day.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I'd say so, given the haul...

The Browns are trading three first-round picks, and two additional picks to the Texans for QB Deshaun Watson, per sources. Wow. Wow. Wow.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 18, 2022

This is a parody account right?

[Swaggs]

This seems insane. Based on past history, he has to be looking at at least a 3-6 game suspension. I wonder what the odds are that at least one of the first round picks will be in the top 5.

I was reading about the contrast between this and the Trevor Bauer situation. It sure is playing out differently.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

Oh, Browns. I guess it only takes one, but $230 million/5 years and all those picks... you still need 45 other active players on a given day.

They're saying it's fully guaranteed too.

[thesloppy]

Sigh. Come on Cleveland, what are you doing?

[Kodos]

They're gonna need to change the security code for the stadium.












**Wonders if anyone will think of the ad he is referring to...**

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I'd say so, given the haul...

That's an insane haul for a guy who didn't even play last year, is looking at a suspension, and is being paid a ton of money. And this is a QB who barely squeaks into the top 10 of QBs in the league.

[NobodyHere]

Ok, let's rationalize this from a Brown's fan perspective.

Given the Brown's draft history (since 1999), they have drafted 5 Qbs in the first round. Arguably the best among them has been Baker Mayfield.

So trading 3 1st round picks for Deshaun Watson seems like pretty good deal.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Kodos

They're gonna need to change the security code for the stadium.












**Wonders if anyone will think of the ad he is referring to...**

I do!

[Thomkal]

So what are the chances the NFL says Watson's year off counts as his suspension?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Ok, let's rationalize this from a Brown's fan perspective.

Given the Brown's draft history (since 1999), they have drafted 5 Qbs in the first round. Arguably the best among them has been Baker Mayfield.

So trading 3 1st round picks for Deshaun Watson seems like pretty good deal.

They have a really good QB now but filling out the rest of that roster without picks or much cap space is going to be tough. That contract is pretty insane compared to what other top young QBs got.

I feel like this is good if you're trading for a tier 1 QB like Mahomes or a young Rodgers. Just don't think Watson is in that realm (he may end up there someday).

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

So what are the chances the NFL says Watson's year off counts as his suspension?

I think they'll wait to see how the civil suits play out. But my guess would be 4 games as that is what Ben ended up with.

[GrantDawg]

This is the best news I have heard in a long time as a Falcons fan. No Watson, likely being forced to trade Ryan, and now they have to face the rebuild they have been trying not to do. They need to dump salary for picks now and the future as much as they can. Two years of cap hell with lots of picks, and start again. Shoot for that number 1 postion next year to pick a franchise QB when there will ne a much better chance to find one. This what they sould have done last year, but they were under some delusion they could "reload" with no cap space and aging over-priced talent.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

They have a really good QB now but filling out the rest of that roster without picks or much cap space is going to be tough. That contract is pretty insane compared to what other top young QBs got.

I feel like this is good if you're trading for a tier 1 QB like Mahomes or a young Rodgers. Just don't think Watson is in that realm (he may end up there someday).

Baker Mayfield was the bottom 3rd of the league for just about every major passing stat last year. What makes you think he's a "really good QB".

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Baker Mayfield was the bottom 3rd of the league for just about every major passing stat last year. What makes you think he's a "really good QB".

I meant Watson is a really good QB. Mayfield is not good and I would not have paid him either.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I meant Watson is a really good QB. Mayfield is not good and I would not have paid him either.

My bad, my brain turned off for a second and I'm not even drunk yet.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

They have a really good QB now but filling out the rest of that roster without picks or much cap space is going to be tough.

The supporting cast of that offense is already set up pretty well on paper, with Chubb and Hunt at RB, Njoku at TE, and now with Amari Cooper at WR.

[albionmoonlight]

Wow. Glad he's not in NOLA.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

3. Everyone else. If you have one of these guys you're fucked, you know you're fucked, everyone knows you're fucked, you know that everyone knows you're fucked, and everyone knows that you know that everyone knows you're fucked.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Yeah, but he can still outlift half the linemen

[JPhillips]

Reports are that only 1 mil of Watson's compensation is 2022 salary, greatly limiting what he could lose from a suspension.

The NFL should reject this contract, but I can't imagine they will.

[Ksyrup]

The Davante Adams contract makes a lot more sense now. 3/67.5, which is 22.5 a year. Then two just ridiculous years on the back end so he can say he beat Hopkins in new money

— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) March 19, 2022