Sports

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@teganslaw wrote:

Wentz seems to be happy being in Indy; I could tell from his press conferences. He never did put down the Eagles' coaches or owner, just said that things didn't work out as expected. 

Gardenman, maybe your Eagles' gear will bring good luck. I have Colts' apparel, but am hesitant on getting anything with the player's name.  Maybe later I'll get a Wentz shirt; not sure yet. The last name shirt I bought was an Andrew Luck T-shirt, then months afterwards he retired. I've never had problem ordering on Google Chrome. The site I usually go to is the NFL Shop. 

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@teganslaw 

That was like me and my RGIII jersey....a waste of money 

Colts defensive end Kwity Paye is the first 2021 first-round pick to sign his rookie deal.

The Colts announced the news on Thursday afternoon. Paye has a four-year deal worth over $13.6 million with a team option for a fifth season. The price tag of that option will be affected by Paye’s playing time and any Pro Bowl selections during his first three seasons.

The Colts were busy signing picks on Thursday. They also announced the signing of four other picks. Second-round defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo, fifth-round safety Shawn Davis, seventh-round wideout Mike Strachan, and seventh-round offensive lineman Will Fries. 

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@teganslaw wrote:

Jake Ehlinger, younger brother of Colts' draft pick, Sam Ehlinger, was found dead off campus. Jake was a DE at University of Texas, the same place Sam attended. They haven't determined the cause of death, but authorities have said that there is no suspicion of foul play. Thoughts and prayers going out to the Ehlinger family. 

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@teganslaw 

That was so sad, Sam and his brother, Jake were there for Sam's draft day and now Jake's passed away....😥  Thoughts and prayers to the family....

[gardenman]

Getting draft picks signed used to be a nightmare, but with the rookie salary scale, all of that has been erased. It's more of a "When you've got time, sign on the dotted line" type of deal now.

The Ehlinger story is incredibly sad for his family. Talk about the emotional roller coaster. You have the highest of highs followed by the lowest of lows.

We're still hearing lots of stories from lots of college coaches and players on how good Devonta Smith is. Now we just need to see him do it on the field. The same is true of Kenneth Gainwell. Coaches who have coached against him claim he's better than Antonio Gibson and Tony Pollard. We'll have to see.

My new shirts should be shipped out today. (Assuming you believe their website.) Only one has a player's name and number on it and that was Hurts and the number two. Because he's now number one, it was marked down $20 and that made it a better deal for me. The rest were older Super Bowl shirts, division, and conference champion shirts. Hey, for $5 and $6 each, They were a good deal. So, they're a bit old and dated. Maybe they're indicative of where we're going and not where we've been. 

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@gardenman wrote:

Getting draft picks signed used to be a nightmare, but with the rookie salary scale, all of that has been erased. It's more of a "When you've got time, sign on the dotted line" type of deal now.

The Ehlinger story is incredibly sad for his family. Talk about the emotional roller coaster. You have the highest of highs followed by the lowest of lows.

We're still hearing lots of stories from lots of college coaches and players on how good Devonta Smith is. Now we just need to see him do it on the field. The same is true of Kenneth Gainwell. Coaches who have coached against him claim he's better than Antonio Gibson and Tony Pollard. We'll have to see.

My new shirts should be shipped out today. (Assuming you believe their website.) Only one has a player's name and number on it and that was Hurts and the number two. Because he's now number one, it was marked down $20 and that made it a better deal for me. The rest were older Super Bowl shirts, division, and conference champion shirts. Hey, for $5 and $6 each, They were a good deal. So, they're a bit old and dated. Maybe they're indicative of where we're going and not where we've been. 

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@gardenman 

Enjoy all your purchases....  

Sometimes you can find good deals, the Redskins re-released some all time favorite player throwback jerseys a couple years ago ..... and I grabbed my all time favorite Redskin player, Art Monk's jersey....and it was on sale  

[gardenman]

Josh Doctson is a free agent again as the Jets have cut him loose. He may be about done in the league now.

[yellowrose]

Unless there comes a DC shirt with 6 superbowl rings logo on it, I'm not

buying anymore shirts.  Have a closet full of them and not one has

proven to be a "good luck" shirt yet.

I was reading the article about Jake earlier.  So very sad.

Prayers are with his family.

Happy Mother Day weekend everyone.

4 legged or 2 legged, hope your kiddies are good to you.  

[gardenman]

The Eagles poached Kerryon Johnson off of the waiver wire. A nice cheap pickup with potential upside. He probably slots in as RB three or four as of now, but we'll have to see how he looks in camp.

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@gardenman wrote:

Josh Doctson is a free agent again as the Jets have cut him loose. He may be about done in the league now.

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@gardenman 

Scot McCloughan drafted Doctson in the first round for the Redskins in 2016...Garcon and D.Jack were in the final year of their contract, and Doctson was slotted to fill in the gap as a starter for the 2017 season....But he turned out to be a bust--very inconsistent! He went on as a journey man, 3 teams in 5 years....since he couldnt even make it on the Jets, looks like his NFL career is over!

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The WFT announced that fans will be at full capacity at FedEx this season.......

Ron Rivera continues to make changes to the front office and surround himself with people he trusts, but also people that will challenge him as he works to build the WFT into a consistent winner. He hired 2 more college scouts:

Jeff Bethard and Sheldon White....

Bethard was with the Panthers for 13 yrs, he also has a Redskin connection---His father is Hall Of Famer, Bobby Bethard , who was the Redskin's GM from 1978-1988..He worked for the CFL, World Football League, and NFL Chargers and Rams.  He also has an SA connection, he was the Director of player personnel and tight ends coach for the San Antonio Riders of the WLAF.. (I remember that team welll)

Sheldon worked with WFT GM, Martin Mayhew, when they were both with the Lions....

[gardenman]

Just a brief follow-up on the Kerryon Johnson pickup by the Eagles. When we get a player from another team, either via free agency, trade, or waiver claim, the first thing the Eagles do is sit down with the guy and go over the roster of the team he left to see what he can tell us about unsung heroes on that team and guys to avoid. We now have Darius Slay, Travis Fulgham, Jason Huntley, and Aaron Siposs, all former Lions on the roster, and all of them were likely quizzed about former Lion teammates, and all likely loved Kerryon Johnson, so when he became available, the Eagles pounced. Teams have their own player personnel experts, but no one truly knows what a guy is like more than a guy who practiced with him every day. 

When we got DeMeco Ryans from Houston a few years back, we raided the Houston roster for a year or two later picking up some good, largely unsung players that DeMeco knew about and pointed the Eagles towards them.

Why didn't the Eagles make a serious effort to get Kenny Golladay? Likely we'd heard some stuff from our former Lions to steer us away from him. The Lions refusing to tag him was also something of a red flag. The Giants will likely learn why the Lions didn't want to tag him in the very near future.

Using newly acquired players as a source of intelligence on the roster they left behind can be a very valuable tool for a GM and personnel team. It's something the Eagles make a conscious effort to do and it helps. No one truly knows a player like his teammates.

Micah Parsons and Cowboys DC Dan Quinn say they'll be in a nickel defense 60%-70% of the time rather than their base 3-4. In the nickel, they'll have four down linemen and five defensive backs with just two linebackers. Hmmm.....so they have Leighton Vander Esch, Keanu Neal, Jaylon Smith, Micah Parsons, and Jabril Cox, all fighting for two slots? It's not unreasonable to say that Jabril Cox and Keanu Neal are the two best pure coverage linebackers. Parsons and Vander Esch might be the two best pass rushers. Jaylon Smith might very well be the odd man out. It'll be interesting to see how the Cowboys shuffle their linebackers around.

The Aaron Rodgers story gets more interesting. He's reportedly turned down a new contract that would have made him the highest-paid QB. Not surprising. This truly isn't about money. The number of teams this year that have managed to alienate their franchise QB is kind of amazing. The Eagles sorted things out quickly. The Seahawks may have come to some sort of a truce with Russell Wilson. At least for now and publicly. Things might not be so copasetic behind the scenes. The Packers and Texans are still trying to figure things out. The Niners likely have a time bomb on their hands with Jimmy G. The Cowboys and Dak sorted things out as in Dak's case it was about the money. He got it and now he's happy. 

Where would the Packers trade Rodgers if it came down to that? Probably to the AFC if they could find a taker. About the only AFC team that really needs a QB is Denver. For better or worse most of the rest of the AFC has "a guy" if not "the guy." Denver loves getting a "name" QB. Peyton Manning ring any bells? Aaron Rodgers to the Broncos would be interesting. The Texans might "need" a QB if they part ways with Watson. If they trade Watson it would be to an NFC team. The Saints, Falcons, Eagles, and Lions might be the only potential Watson buyers in the NFC. (Maybe the Giants if they don't truly believe in Daniel Jones.) The rest of the NFC has at least "a guy" they hope to be "the guy."

The period between now and the start of the regular season could prove kind of interesting. We might see some fairly drastic roster reshuffling at QB if certain guys become available. The Packers are learning they can't buy Aaron Rodgers' allegiance. They drafted his replacement last year. Do they move on from him? When? Do they wait until camp and it becomes a daily "Where's Aaron?" distraction for the staff and players? The Texans are in largely the same place with Watson, only they don't have his replacement in-house. That complicates life for them a bit. If they move him they need someone to replace him.