NFL 2018 Off Season Thread

[NobodyHere]

Browns QB Baker Mayfield launches line of signature underwear

Originally Posted by Article

The Browns rookie quarterback introduced his own line of underwear from PSD on Tuesday. The boxer briefs come in two varieties: Browns stripes or Sooners crimson.

Because that's what I want on my underwear, brown stripes and crimson.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I really haven't thought much about the CTE issue but now that you guys have brought it up, it does seem weird that I enjoy watching people essentially knock /damage their brains.

I like college more than pro football, and definitely football more than baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer etc. But all in all, I don't live for football and can do without it. Given incentive (e.g. no football), I think I can get into soccer. Football may die a slow death as less and less kids play it and attendance decreases but tbh, it won't go away before I'm dead.

My worst concussion(s) were playing soccer, and if repeated sub-concussive blows are a problem I'm pretty sure that I suffered more of those playing soccer than football/lacrosse. (Though I did play on the outside & not O/DL.)

I don't say that to scare you off soccer, but yeah I wouldn't assume soccer is a CTE-safe place.

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Yeah, that was a special moment. I’m not sure whether he was prepped for it or not, but he answered it with all the enthusiasm you’d expect from a guy asked on prime time TV to remember the time he blinded a guy, basically ended his career and probably contributed to his early death from diabetes. Good times!

This never got the attention it deserved (/s) . I understand it's easier to march off a penalty from a specific location & I'm all for ref's dropping their beanbag at the point of a hold if the play moves downfield, but why would there ever be a need to throw it at eye level at a person?!? It was a holding call near the line of scrimmage.

[molson]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

My worst concussion(s) were playing soccer, and if repeated sub-concussive blows are a problem I'm pretty sure that I suffered more of those playing soccer than football/lacrosse. (Though I did play on the outside & not O/DL.)

They've found CTE in almost every brain they've tested for it - including 17-year old high school football players, soccer players, even a baseball player or two. Obviously these are all selected samples, but it seems like something that's more a matter of degree rather than, once you cross this threshold, you're necessarily doomed. Or at least, that's all we know until they find a category of brains that DON'T have CTE.

The awareness is good, and the mitigation attempts are good. Though I'm amazed quite how far society needed to go for this awareness - we've known about dementia pugilistica since the 20s, and we knew older football players and boxers often suffered the effects of brain trauma when they aged. I remember Simpsons jokes about this and an ESPN Outside the Line special about Jerry Quarry in the late 80s or early 90s. My mother wouldn't let her sons play football in the 80s in the 90s because she knew it was bad for your brain. Our pediatrician refused to sign off on high school football physicals for any of his patients for the same reason. It's amazing how it took three scary initials and a bad Will Smith accent to really turn the tide in society though.

I think football and MMA and even boxing will survive. Fewer will choose to take the risk, and football is maybe most at risk because you have to start as a kid. But I think we're learning ways to mitigate the impact, rest appears to be critical - avoiding concussions when you've recently been concussed. It won't solve the problem but this generation of athletes will probably be better off than the last, and the impacts on the last generation certainly weren't enough to really shut these things down.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Browns QB Baker Mayfield launches line of signature underwear



Because that's what I want on my underwear, brown stripes and crimson.

Well, if you look at it another way, those are perfect camo.

[Edward64]

This is a surprise (but nice) SB pick.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/08/21/nf...-liii-champion

...And yet I’m picking the Falcons to be the first team to play (and win) a Super Bowl at home. Atlanta has a diverse, electrifying offense quarterbacked by 2016 MVP Matt Ryan. They also have a fast, unified defense built around guys in their prime. In the AFC, the Patriots feel a touch weaker this year, so I’m giving that conference to the Steelers, who can win with a smashmouth ground game or a high-flying spread passing game. They, too, have a defense in its prime. But the Falcons are a more complete team. Atlanta finally gets its Lombardi Trophy.

[PilotMan]

I'll believe Steelers can beat NE, when I see it. It's been, what, a decade or something like that? Brady will come back, at 50, for an AFC Champ game against the Steelers and go 35-47 with 450 yards and 5 TD's. They are helpless against him.

[stevew]

Yeah that's what happens when you run the same defense for 20 years with very few changes and less talented personnel every single year.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Speaking of CTE: Free Agent OL Richie Incognito Arrested

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ce-report-says

A few more details. Something obviously isn't right with the guy and I hope for his sake that he can get it corrected.

[bhlloy]

Alex Smith and Adrian Peterson on the Redskins feels like somebody went back and decided to start a new season on Madden 2014 in fantasy draft mode.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ce-report-says

A few more details. Something obviously isn't right with the guy and I hope for his sake that he can get it corrected.

Does Richie Incognito have CTE? Probably.
Was he a crazy asshole before he had it? Almost certainly.
Will leaving him on the street end up in tragedy eventually? Almost certainly.
Does anyone want to step in and stop it? No, mostly because we're not really allowed to.

[Ksyrup]

The bogus penalty call on the Raiders last night is exactly what I was talking about in terms of lowering the shoulder requires lowering the helmet. The two are linked. The NFL has to come out and say that wasn't a correct penalty call. There's no way to play tackle football if that's a penalty.

[albionmoonlight]

Today I learned that the Lions and Browns traditionally play the 4th preseason game against each other and call it the Great Lakes Classic and have a trophy and everything.

I LOVE this. The NFL is so corporate that you never get to see fun tongue-in-cheek stuff like this. The 4th preseason game is, like, the only place left where people care so little that you can have fun.

"Never has a game that's meant so little meant so much!"

[molson]

It's a pretty sweet trophy too.

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MIGt...hy-getty.0.jpg

I wonder where they put it.

There's also the "Governor's cup" awarded to the winner of the annual Texans/Cowboys preseason game (and Oilers/Cowboys before that.) That goes back to 1965, but the trophy is not as cool

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kC5MT2r5U...or%27s+Cup.jpg

The Missouri Governor's Cup series is sadly inactive now. They also had a trophy.

http://www.chiefs360.com/wp-content/...ernorscup.jpeg

OK, that was some solid Monday morning procrastinating.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Today I learned that the Lions and Browns traditionally play the 4th preseason game against each other and call it the Great Lakes Classic and have a trophy and everything.

I LOVE this. The NFL is so corporate that you never get to see fun tongue-in-cheek stuff like this. The 4th preseason game is, like, the only place left where people care so little that you can have fun.

"Never has a game that's meant so little meant so much!"

Yes!

I love the Great Lakes Classic. My mom's side of the family is all from Cleveland. As a result, at some point when we were kids, my brother became a huge Cleveland Browns fan. Bernie Kosar was his favorite player. So, his A-Team is the Browns, with the Lions as his back-up team. For me the reverse is true. It's an amazing combination for favorite teams.

Needless to say, we've been huge fans of The GLC. What better way to honor the tradition of both these proud franchises than making their marquee match up the 4th preseason game?

We're getting together Thursday night to watch.

It will be the first and only pre-season action I watch all year!

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Yes!

So, his A-Team is the Browns, with the Lions as his back-up team. For me the reverse is true. It's an amazing combination for favorite teams.

What a recipe for pain!

[albionmoonlight]

More on the NFL-Players-Are-Criminals Front.

Linebacker Mychal Kendricks has just been charged with . . . insider trading.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

More on the NFL-Players-Are-Criminals Front.

Linebacker Mychal Kendricks has just been charged with . . . insider trading.

Only the Browns...

[Thomkal]

We're gonna have to close this thread soon


Jets trade quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to Saints

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Kodos

What a recipe for pain!

Try being in the Toledo area where CBS generally airs the Brown's "game" and Fox airs the Lion's game.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

More on the NFL-Players-Are-Criminals Front.

Linebacker Mychal Kendricks has just been charged with . . . insider trading.

Cleveland Browns release Mychal Kendricks after linebacker charged with insider trading

I wonder if he took bets about when he'd be released by the Browns

[albionmoonlight]

Teddy Bridgewater leaves New York as the greatest Jets QB of my lifetime

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger_sherman) August 29, 2018

The best part of this is some people in the comments actually engaging with the merits: "Sanchez led them to the AFC Championship."

[Thomkal]

Judge agrees with Colin Kapernick, his collusion case will go forward, not dismissed.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Today I learned that the Lions and Browns traditionally play the 4th preseason game against each other and call it the Great Lakes Classic and have a trophy and everything.

I LOVE this. The NFL is so corporate that you never get to see fun tongue-in-cheek stuff like this. The 4th preseason game is, like, the only place left where people care so little that you can have fun.

"Never has a game that's meant so little meant so much!"

Let the GLC begin!

[stevew]

Just realized I went to a GLC 3-4 years ago and didn’t even realize it. That’s the power of the GLC

[NobodyHere]

The Cleveland Browns looking great in preseason.

The offensive line is looking great and giving QB mayfield time to do his thing.

The defense is playing well.

I hope they can continue this in the regular season.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

The Cleveland Browns looking great in preseason.

The offensive line is looking great and giving QB mayfield time to do his thing.

The defense is playing well.

I hope they can continue this in the regular season.

Fun fact: The original “Raiders looking great in preseason” was in response to the Raiders destroying the Lions in a preseason game.

This has not been a scintillating GLC.

This has also been as bad a preseason I can recall the Lions having. If they manage to lose against Darnold and the Jets on Monday night, it will get very ugly for the Matty Patty era.

[Coffee Warlord]

Bears apparently got Khalil Mack.

God only knows how many picks Ryan Pace gave up this time.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Bears apparently got Khalil Mack.

God only knows how many picks Ryan Pace gave up this time.

Could be two first rounders. Are the Raiders giving up on the season already? I mean his contract was up this year, and looks like they weren't going to pay Donald kind of money to keep him, but maybe see how your team looks in the first couple of weeks before trading him?


Bears expected to acquire Khalil Mack from Raiders - NFL.com

[weegeebored]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Bears apparently got Khalil Mack.

God only knows how many picks Ryan Pace gave up this time.

So now they go from a 5 win team to 7 wins, and give up the future in both picks and FA money. There's talk about giving him a Donald-type contract. The meatheads will be yelling Super Bowl now. Oh boy.

[Coffee Warlord]

Word is...

Bears give: 2019 1st, 2020 1st, 2020 3rd, 2019 6th
Raiders give: Mack, 2020 2nd, 2020 5th (conditional).

At least I guess I don't have to watch the Bears fuck up another 1st round pick for a couple of years.

[Thomkal]

Bills trade QB McCarron to the Raiders for a fifth rounder. Bit surprising they gave up on him with just a rookie and Nathan Peterman left to start now in Buffalo:


Buffalo Bills trade AJ McCarron to Oakland Raiders

[djsatu]

Mack gets record 6 year 141 M, 90 M guarenteed from Chicago. Bears defense could be insane this year. Jerick McKinnon tears his ACL and is out for the season.

[Arles]

Mack is a heck of a player and that Bears defense looks pretty scare (esp as a GB fan). But, giving up two first round picks and a $141 Mil contract ($22-$24 mil cap hold the next 3 years) seems like a ton for a non-QB. This is a massive bet on Trubisky as well. With no 1sts for two seasons and not a ton of cap space, the Bears won't really have many options if he flames out. Still, I understand the move and will be interested to see how it plays out. If the Bears don't make the playoffs over the next two seasons, they will have paid a massive price to be an average team.

[stevew]

Le'Veon Bell is still a no-show

[RainMaker]

I like the deal for the Bears. Bears should be at least average to above average so those picks won't be that high. And the fact they got a 2nd round pick back from Oakland means that they're probably just trading down 15-20 picks in 2020.

So you're giving up a first round pick around 15-20 and trading down about 15 spots the following year for Khalil Mack. Odds of you finding someone with the impact of Mack with those picks is slim to none.

As for the money, with Trubisky on a rookie deal, the team has money to spend. Would they be able to spend that money on the free agent market to get a better return? I doubt it. Mack is a generational talent and as long as you aren't on the hook for huge money to your QB, a pass rusher like that is about as important a position as you get.

Everything hinges on whether Trubisky is the real deal or not. If he is, Bears can be contenders in the next couple years. If not, they'll be mediocre.

[djsatu]

Originally Posted by stevew

Le'Veon Bell is still a no-show

I'm surprised the Rooney family has put up with Bell for this long. They are known to run a tight ship. I'd sit Bell as he clearly put money ahead of everything else. If I was a Steelers fan right now, i'd be choked too.

[Atocep]

The best window for NFL teams to win is when a QB is on a rookie deal. The bears are taking advantage of it. The overall cost is less than 2 firsts and the bears were sitting on a mountain of cap space because Pace has done a very good job managing the cap.

There's definitely risk involved in trading the picks and handing out the huge contract, but I think it's a risk you have to take. This should give the bears a 3-4 year window for Trubisky to improve and build up the talent on the roster while Mack is at or near his peak.

[Arles]

Pretty good article by Barnwell. I agree with most here that you make the deal. If Trubisky sucks, chances are you are going to be a mediocre team no matter what (even if you hit on the first round picks) - so I think you have to take a chance on Mack if you are the Bears. But here's his take:

To be worth two average first-round picks on top of his market-value contract, Mack would have to be worth, as an educated guess, something in the range of $15 million more than his actual deal with the Bears over each of the next five seasons. If he gets Aaron Donald-level money and hits $23 million per year, Mack probably has to play like a $38 million-per-year player to make the economics work in this swap. That's just not humanly possible.

The Bears are paying two first-round picks and forfeiting a ton of surplus value because Mack is too good to get wrong. Is it an efficient use of assets? Absolutely not. They're valuing Mack as being worth more than Aaron Rodgers over the next five years, and that just isn't the case. Is it the best these Bears could have done with $23 million or so per year in cash and two first-round picks? Quite possibly.

Answering biggest questions on Khalil Mack trade to Chicago Bears from Oakland Raiders

[stevew]

I'm not mad at Bell. He got exclusive tagged 2 years in a row and the guaranteed money he was offered was kind of weak.

[QuikSand]

So the Mack deal seems to reinforce the new conventional wisdom in the NFL -- when you have a cheap, good-enough QB (presumably under a rookie contract) you push all-in with veterans around him to give the team the best chance to win right away. PHI, STL, and now CHI clearly following this path. Not sure who else may follow in the years ahead, but this year's frosh QB class seems to create some candidate teams if any of them acquit themselves to be "good enough."

Makes me wonder on the contra side of this. What happens to some of these decent but not particularly good QBs after they become market-based? Say Miami goes 7-9 this year with Tannehill... or any of a half dozen other comparable examples. What should the market be for a pretty good but not build-around QB? Like... the Case Keenum contract? Is that about right?

[stevew]

You had Bridgewater and McCarron around 5-6M before incentives. McCown at around 10M. Bradford at 15M plus bonuses. Cutler got around 10 last year I think.

I dunno, it's all over the place but I think the most important thing is that most of these deals are easy to get out of.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So the Mack deal seems to reinforce the new conventional wisdom in the NFL -- when you have a cheap, good-enough QB (presumably under a rookie contract) you push all-in with veterans around him to give the team the best chance to win right away. PHI, STL, and now CHI clearly following this path. Not sure who else may follow in the years ahead, but this year's frosh QB class seems to create some candidate teams if any of them acquit themselves to be "good enough."

It seems like a way to get a short term boost, but you also close your window a bit. The Rams are going to be in a world of cap hurt in two years. Seattle also killed their window a bit by overpaying everyone on the defense and neglecting their OL. Philly seems to be in pretty good shape as they didn't go crazy with FAs.

I'll be real interested in how this plays out in Chicago. I get that you have some FA money with a rookie QB so you get a little aggressive. But, Chicago (even with Mack) is still clearly the third best team in the NFC North. Even if they start 7-5 (which would be absolute best case), they finish with the Rams, Packers, @SF and @Minny. I don't see a path to the playoffs unless other people get hurt and there's a chance they are 5-7 wins if Trubisky struggles. Giving up those picks when you are still a ways away seems like a bigtime gamble.

Makes me wonder on the contra side of this. What happens to some of these decent but not particularly good QBs after they become market-based? Say Miami goes 7-9 this year with Tannehill... or any of a half dozen other comparable examples. What should the market be for a pretty good but not build-around QB? Like... the Case Keenum contract? Is that about right?

I can't see Tannehill getting more than a 3-year deal with only a little guaranteed money. The only way he gets more is if he has a massive season. Bradford has had more success and he got a 2-year deal.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

PHI, STL, and now CHI clearly following this path.

Hey.

[albionmoonlight]

.