Sports

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

Yeah, the thought was that the Cowboys could get away with paying Dak $22-$25 million a year since he was a later round pick. Yeah, not so much. JJ has spent months talking about Dak as being every great quarterback combined in one and how he'd pick him first overall of anyone. That's going to cost him. Dak shouldn't settle for less than $30 million as that's likely where the franchise tag number will be next year for QB's.

Landon Collins might want to be careful in his talking. He says he's looking forward to tackling Saquon Barkley. Yeah. He won't be looking forward to it for long. Saquon's a beast.

It looks like Malcolm Jenkins will skip the mandatory minicamp for the Eagles that starts tomorrow. There are reports now that he wants a hefty increase in salary. He's the ninth highest paid safety now (out of sixty-four starters) and his best playing days are likely behind him. This might be one of those situations where you hold the line if you're the Eagles. Maybe let his agent test the trade market for him to see if he has any value elsewhere. You can't overpay a potentially declining player. The Eagles let Brian Dawkins walk a few years back in a similar showdown. We might see a repeat of that.

The Eagles have escaped any big injuries so far, but we've got the three day minicamp now starting tomorrow where the risk of injury increases. Hopefully we'll avoid anything catastrophic.

[teganslaw]

I saw that several Colts made Pro Football Focus Clutch Team. They are very deserving of the honor, not that I'm biased  Anyway, congrats to them!

SPURT,  the only reason Washington stays with Bruce Allen is because of who his father is? If he's not doing a good job, he shouldn't stay in the office. What would it take for the organization to see that? 

I was reading Houston Texans message boards to see their thoughts on Gaine being fired. Many are glad that he's gone. Someone brought up the idea of Jadeveon Clowney going to Washington in a trade for Trent Williams. I have no idea where that came from, but it would be intriguing. This was from a Texan fan; nothing official was posted about a trade. 

NFL Network replayed the Eagles-Patriots Superbowl last evening. It was one of the best Superbowls I'd ever seen. and I enjoyed watching it again. Doug Pederson made some gutsy calls in that game which paid off in the end. 

[gardenman]

@teganslaw 

In the last two seasons we've had one of the best, most exciting, Super Bowls in the Eagles/Pats and then one of the most boring and dull games in Rams/Patriots.

A Clowney trade for an offensive tackle would make sense. The Texans were planning to draft Andre Dillard to fill their offensive tackle void, then the Eagles jumped ahead of them and drafted him. I suspect the Redskins would need to add more than just Trent Williams. Such a trade would make Ereck Flowers happy as it would open up the left tackle spot. It would terrify their QB's with Flowers at left tackle.

[gardenman]

Now Malcolm Jenkins has shown up for the physical and will reportedly be available for the minicamp starting tomorrow. No one quite knows why he decided to show up. Did he get a new deal? A promise of a new deal? Did he just decide to play under his existing contract? We'll find out tomorrow afternoon when he meets with the press after practice.

[gardenman]

The Eagles finished day one of minicamp with no one getting hurt. Just two more days of minicamp and we should go into training camp in July healthy. (God willing!)

[Spurt]

@teganslaw 

Yep, Snyder won't get rid of Bruce for George Allen's sake.....but what they could do and what they thought about initially when Scot M was first brought in, was reassigning Bruce to the new stadium project....of course we know how things turned out with Scot and those plans were thwarted... But if Snyder wants to make a change he could still go that route...

I dont know about Clowney/Williams trade...the Redkins would have to sweeten the pot a lot....besides we need Oline!!!!

Well football fans it looks like the powers that be listened to Jay Gruden and picked his brother's team, Da Raiders for Hard Knocks...Get your popcorn ready.....Jon, AB, Incognito, Burfict Jr....should be fun..😎

[gardenman]

I'll probably pop down $14.99 for HBO Now come August just to watch the Raiders and the chaos of Hard Knocks. It should be pretty entertaining. The Raiders are one of those teams that you just don't know what to expect from them this year. They could go 14-2 or 2-14. You just don't know. (I'm leaning to a number closer to 2-14 though.) A lot depends on Carr. 

Trent Williams does seem intent on leaving DC and the Texans would make sense for a landing spot. Pro Bowl caliber left offensive tackles don't come cheap. If the Texans truly believed he could be their starting left tackle for the next five years then the Redskins might not have to add too much to get Clowney back. Maybe a third round pick? That's assuming the Texans are willing to let Clowney go at all. The Redskins do have Ereck Flowers in reserve who desperately wants to play left tackle. He feels that's his natural position. So what if he's never looked good playing it, he thinks that's where he belongs.

If you're the Redskins, how important is the left offensive tackle spot to you? The big pass rushers in the NFC East (Brandon Graham, Demarcus Lawrence) tend to be the left defensive end who lines up over your right offensive tackle. In fact, most of the big pass rushers throughout the league tend to come from that left defensive end or outside linebacker spot these days. The Giants have essentially no pass rushers left on their roster, so you can largely ignore games with them. It's not an inconceivable move for either team if they wanted to make the move. I just don't know that the Texans would want to make the move. Dan Snyder would love to acquire a "name" player like a Clowney though, so who knows?

[Spurt]

Per local guys--Amari Cooper is not happy with contract negotiations ...but it doesn't look like he plans to hold out....Zeke and Dak aren't worried about their contracts so far... 

The Patriots have filed tampering charges against the Texans, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

[gardenman]

I believe Amari Cooper and Dak are both eligible to be free agents in 2020, so they both know they'll get paid, one way or another. For Dak waiting is good as Jared Goff's new deal will likely be for more than Wentz's deal. Which by the way, is very complicated and hard for even the contract/cap experts to get a handle on. A few of the local reporters were on the phone for over an hour with contract/cap experts and came away with headaches and more confusion than they had going in.

For Cooper, life's a little more complicated. The draft class of 2020 is said to be flush with superbly talented kids at wide receiver. That will depress the value of veteran receivers. Dak will have Witten back as a safety valve this year which may reduce Cooper's stats. He's a guy who would probably have to settle for less as a free agent. He'll want a new deal sooner rather than later.

I think if the Cowboys were smart they'd just tag Elliott a couple of times rather than sign him to a big deal. Since he was a first round pick, they have a fifth year option on him which locks him in through 2020. Then a tag in 2021 and 2022 would keep him as a Cowboy. The runningback tag number isn't too bad and tagging him solves the injury/suspension headache the Cowboys could experience if they signed him to an extension. The Rams signed Gurley to a big extension and now his knee is looking like it'll be a big, long term problem. Elliott is always just one dumb mistake from getting a lifetime ban, so I'd not commit a lot to him.

Tampering goes on all the time. I doubt much will come of the charges unless the Texans were incredibly stupid. Whenever teams get together (Senior Bowl, Combine, league meetings, etc.) tampering goes on. Assistant coaches, personnel guys, trainers, and whoever, get wooed by teams that want them. As far as I know only teams' cheerleaders aren't actively tampered with at those events. Even that could take place. 

[teganslaw]

The Colts are spending some of their salary cap by locking in certain players.

Punter Rigoberto Sanchez and Long Snapper Luke Rhodes signed four year extensions.

 Corner Kenny Moore, who was set to become a free agent, became the highest paid slot C in the NFL with a four year extension on his contract. I couldn't find details on his contract, but it's money well spent. Moore had a stellar season in 2018, and barring injuries, will only get better.

The Texans might have to pay a fine for tampering, depending what happens. If tampering is so common, why don't more teams get called out for it? Maybe it's just not worth it.