Sports

[teganslaw]

Talks among the NFL, NFLPA and Deshaun Watson's advisors "fell apart" when they couldn't agree on the number of games suspended. I didn't know that Watson's advisors could negotiate this; I thought it was only the NFL and arbitrator. This could be bad news as some might want a longer suspension.

An article wrote that many NFL teams consider Baker Mayfield "too immature" and that's why there isn't much interest in him. Maybe if he were "mature" like Deshaun Watson he would have a better chance.   (The last sentence wasn't in the article; it was my own thought.)

[Txblond]

  IHey there Rosie - haven't been on here in awhile, so just saw your post.  Nice to see you!  Is  it time to say Go Cowboys?  Guess not quite yet.

[gardenman]

I like Baker Mayfield. I think he may be a bit immature, but maturity can be acquired. He's a leader first and foremost and a winner. Cleveland had been in the QB desert since Bernie Kosar left and Baker pulled them out of that hole and led them to being a playoff team. Immature guys can grow up. Losers seldom grow into being winners. Mayfield's a winner. Is he perfect? No. No one is. Can you win with him? Absolutely! Would I take a chance on him if my team needed a QB? Sure. He finds ways to win games while a whole lot of the other options find ways to lose. 

[gardenman]

NFL.com has a list of teams they expect to improve the most in wins. They think the Jets (four more wins,) Seahawks (five more wins,) Jags (five more wins,) Lions (five more wins,) and Broncos (six more wins) will be those teams.

I would agree with Broncos, and Jaguars. The Jets are kind of iffy to me. They should be better, but so is everyone else in the AFC East. The Broncos should be able to win more (maybe not six games more, but more) with Russell Wilson as their QB. The Jaguars have a real head coach again with a good system and a lot of good players. The Jets are kind of iffy as the AFC East is pretty tough. The Lions should improve also, maybe not five wins worth though. 

The Seahawks? That's where they lose me. Five more wins without Russell Wilson than with him? Eh, no. If Wilson is a six-game difference-maker for the Broncos then the Seahawks should suffer without him, not win more. I think that writer may have had a few too many when he included Seattle on that list. And five more wins without Russell Wilson? My God! Russ must have really been holding them back. Uh, no.

Mike Florio is reporting that Alvin Kamara will be facing a likely six-game suspension for his altercation at the Pro Bowl. That won't help the Saints any. He's a huge part of their offense. 

[gardenman]

Peter King lists the Eagles as the fourth best NFC team behind the Rams, Packers, and Bucs. I would agree that the Eagles aren't as good as those three teams. I think there's a decent-sized cluster of teams behind the three though, and the Eagles are in that cluster. The Vikings, Cowboys, Commanders, Niners, Cards, and Saints would also be in that second tier. I'd put the Giants, Bears, Lions, Panthers, Falcons, and Seahawks in a third tier.

[gardenman]

The Deshaun Watson situation is winding down now. His hearing is Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal is saying the league wants an indefinite suspension lasting at least one full year. Given the recent flow of events, an indefinite suspension sounds about right. That gives the league some leeway in the process, and they can cut it short or extend it as need be.

And as feared by every GM in the league, their knuckleheads are doing knucklehead stuff. Bears linebacker Matt Adams was arrested on gun charges for having a gun with a high-capacity magazine, and metal piercing bullets. They're misdemeanor charges rather than felonies, so there's that in his favor. He probably won't do jail time but could end up suspended for part of the season.

He's the first guy to get in trouble now after the OTAs, but he probably won't be the last. These are scary days for the GMs and coaches around the league as the players tend to find ways to get themselves in trouble between the OTAs and training camp. Some get in legal trouble. Some try to squeeze six months of training and conditioning into one and injure themselves. Some decide that maybe they should have surgery to fix an ongoing issue. Some guys will get suspended for PED use. This is the time of year when GMs cringe every time their phone rings. There is seldom good news coming their way.

The Cowboys and their tight end Dalton Schultz still seem to be far apart on a new deal. Schultz signed his franchise tag already so he'll get his tag salary of $10.93 million this year. The Cowboys seem willing to tag him again next year also as his tag number would be $13.12 million which would keep his salary below that of a comparable tight end like David Njoku who's averaging $13.69 in yearly salary on his new deal. These are those "penny-wise, pound foolish" type contract moves that tend to alienate a player and lessen their performance.

A lot of football gets played between the earholes of the helmet and when you start nickel and diming a guy to save a little money, they tend not to be quite so willing to die for the team. And the Cowboys have no young, up-and-coming kid behind Schultz. A $14 million a year deal would likely get him signed for the next four years and he'd be happy and play hard. They have the cap space ($20 million) to get a deal done. It would be $3+ million more this year and less than a million more in 2023, so it's not a huge difference and it would make the player happy. They won't be able to tag him in 2024 and they have no one in line to replace him, so getting him signed to a decent contract ($14 million a year) would be a wise move.

Adam Schein is ranking the divisions by quarterbacks and has the NFC East at the bottom of the eight divisions. Some of his rankings are a bit odd. He has the NFC North at fourth. I guess that's due to Aaron Rodgers as we haven't seen anything from Justin Fields and no one's swooning over Jared Goff or Kirk Cousins. But then he has the NFC South at seventh with Tom Brady in the mix? If you're putting the NFC North at four due to Aaron Rodgers, you pretty much have to rank the NFC South in that neighborhood due to Tom Brady. 

[Spurt]

@gardenman @teganslaw 

Just to catch up --- I LIKE Baker and think he does have talent, and I enjoy his quirky personality and his Progressive commercials---😄

I think Dez deserves a year suspension and some mandated counseling....

Some of the media's rankings are indeed a puzzle.....🤔

Speaking of players getting into trouble in the off season....I have a question...Didnt Jerry Jones hire a babysitter for Dez Bryant to try to keep Dez out of trouble after Dez was banned from a mall after an incident there.....and then Dez had a fight with his baby sitters????  Thats what i remember....In the book, Florio talks about Pacman Jones days with the Cowboys and his "babysitters" and their altercation.....Oh those Cowboys just sign the best role models dont they....SARCASM.....😄

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

It looks like one Washington Blog has realistic fans--...

 A poll was taken and the question was who was going to win more games this season Washington or the Eagles....and in an overwhelming vote 91% of the Washington fans picked THE EAGLES!

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

Yeah, JJ had a babysitter for Dez who would go with him to keep him out of trouble. It's not a bad strategy for teams as jerks in bars/clubs like to pick fights with athletes, so having someone to intercede makes sense if the player isn't smart enough to walk away on his own or avoid the trouble himself. It might cost a hundred grand to hire a full-time babysitter for a player, but if it keeps him out of trouble, it's well worth the money.

Teams get more concerned about players when they're out of the building than when they're in the building. That period between the end of the season and the start of OTA's scares them to death. Then the period from the end of OTA's to the start of training camp also scares them. Those are the two periods where players are most likely to get into trouble.

Alvin Kamara is facing a six-game suspension and possibly more for his altercation at the Pro Bowl. Coaches and GMs can keep things under control when the guys are in the building with them for ten to twelve hours a day. They get constant reminders of how to behave, who to interact with, when to walk away, etc. while in the building. Much of that goes right out of their head without the constant reminders though.

There's not a head coach or GM in the league whose heart doesn't skip a beat this time of year when their phone rings. Any news this time of the year is typically bad news for a team. 

[gardenman]

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@Spurt wrote:

@gardenman 

It looks like one Washington Blog has realistic fans--...

 A poll was taken and the question was who was going to win more games this season Washington or the Eagles....and in an overwhelming vote 91% of the Washington fans picked THE EAGLES!

---

A lot depends on the QBs. If Wentz plays like he did in 2017, the Commanders could slip ahead of the Eagles. QB play is the big unknown with both teams right now. I think the Eagles' roster is better top to bottom than the Commanders, but a hot QB can compensate for a weaker roster. (Look at Aaron Rodgers for proof of that.) Wentz was a top-five QB for twelve weeks last year. If he plays at that level for all seventeen weeks, the Eagles will need Hurts to step up his game. 

I still have the Eagles in first, the Commanders in second, the Cowboys third, and the Giants in fourth. It's hard not to find eight or nine wins for the first three of those teams, so a win here or there will be the difference between first and third. I think the Eagles will have eleven wins in 2022, but we'll have to see. This Eagles team is deep and pretty solid looking for now, but stuff happens.