Sports

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

The Saints have a lot of safeties on the roster. (I believe eight in total at this moment.) They may not be planning to sign him. I suspect we'll find out where Mathieu goes this week. 

The Eagles have kids to fill in, but I think they think they're getting Mathieu, as they could have resigned Rodney McLeod, but let him go to Indy. He didn't get a huge payday and was affordable, so letting him wander off implies the Eagles have another plan, and it wasn't in the draft. Either they trust the kids, or have something else brewing. I'm leaning towards something else is brewing.

[gardenman]

The fact that the Saints need to come out and state that they're going after Tyrann Mathieu implies they know they don't have him now. So, if they don't have him, who does? The Eagles and Rams are the other two teams you hear mentioned.

The Saints can more easily afford him with around $19 million in cap space. The Eagles are around $8 million, and the Rams are around $6 million. You can always find more space if need be, but if money is his motivation, the Saints likely have the upper hand. If he wants the best chance to win a Super Bowl, the Rams might be his best option. The Saints are arguably the farthest of the three from being a contender. The Eagles may have the best vibe going of NFL teams right now.

MMQB has a nice article up on the Eagles' trade for AJ Brown. It's a good read on how the Eagles are thinking now. We're pretty nicely positioned for the immediate future with two firsts next year, a first, and two seconds in 2024. Our first-round picks next year are the Saints and our own, so here's hoping the Saints have a monumentally bad year. The potential for them to be bad is there. A new head coach, recycling Jameis Winston, and lots of unknowns.

[teganslaw]

Louis Riddick thinks that the Colts have won the 2022 draft. He is excited about the players the Colts drafted, that their talent will go far. Riddick is knowledgeable, so it's good to see his positive reaction. 

Jim Irsay wants Ryan to be a long term quarterback-3 or 4 years- not just filling in until someone else comes along. Ryan has two more years left on his 5 year Atlanta contract.  Sounds fine, but if the Colts don't enter the playoffs in the next few years, Irsay could easily change his mind. Ryan needs to produce this season, as well as the coaches. 

[Spurt]

@gardenman @teganslaw 

GARDENMAN you'll be happy to know that our local guys, even the Cowboy "homers" said the Eagles and Giants nailed their drafts, and gave extra special kudos to the Eagles...and they said Washington improved too...the only team in the NFC East that did not get better was the Cowboys......🤣🤣🤣

Did y'all here about the feud with former Cowboy Taco Charlton and Jerry Jones on Twitter---Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones threw shade at Taco Charlton, and the defensive lineman seemingly threw some right back at him.

On Tuesday, April 25, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones talked about who makes the call when it comes to drafting a player. That is when he joked that the selection of Taco Charlton was his son, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones’, idea, while he bragged how he was the one who chose to pick Micah Parsons last year.  (While Jerry pats himself on the back for Parson, Jerry failed to also mention that there was another player the Cowboys could have chosen instead of Taco---TJ Watt was selected 2 picks later by the Steelers...and ya know what kind of career TJ is having....LOL---Oh that Cowboy front office...).

Well, the quote from Jones spread across social media and found its way to Charlton,

Taco Charlton just destroyed Jerry Jones on Twitter

Taco responded with a GIF of actor Woody Harrelson wiping his tears with money.Charlton signed a contract with the New Orleans Saints for the 2022 season.

WTG TACO---- https://twitter.com/i/status/1519051445127073797

[Spurt]

@sunshine45 

Your Ravens signed one of our UTSA Roadrunners, you better take good care of him, and see that he makes the team....😉

Ravens signed underafted UTSA Roadrunner linebacker Charles Wiley

At his pro day Wiley ran the forty in the 4.5 range with 27 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press. At 6’3”, 255 pounds.  The last two years at UTSA saw Wiley start 25 of the 26 games he played in, while racking up 79 tackles, 19.0 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 2 passed defended, 3 fumble recoveries, and a defensive TD.

You also signed a RB Kevin Brown from a small college in our city, University Of Incarnate Word.....

[Spurt]

@gardenman @teganslaw 

I thought this was interesting in what's happening in the world of Texas college football---

While the UTSA Roadrunners had 2 players drafted and the University Of Texas Longhorns had ZERO---thats right folks ZERO drafted.....my my my once the Crowned King of Texas College Football and a contender in the college football world, however, year after year, the Longhorns program keeps declining more and more and they are becoming an after thought...They were 5-7 overall, 3-6 in the Big 12 Conference which was 7th last season..SMH..

Now their old rival Texas A&M, the Aggies keep their program and name out there in the tough SEC Conference, Baylors name is still out there too in the Big 12 Conference, but the Longhorns seem to keep fading away....who knows perhaps the UTSA Roadrunners will continue to move up as this young program continues to grow and grow, they may be one of the Texas college teams the national media talks about instead of the Longhorns .......STAY TUNED.....(and yes its true the University even ate their first Bevo Longhorn mascot...he was barbecued--poor "Bevo"---SHUDDER)......

When A&M and UT were in the same conference and the rivalry was a VERY BIG THING I always cheered for A&M, because A&M is where all the veterinarian's in Texas seem to  graduate from....that includes our family and friends beloved Vet, Dr. Z---who takes good care of all our furry companions---GIG EM.....

[gardenman]

@teganslaw 

It'll be interesting to see how Ryan does in Indy. The change of scenery certainly can't hurt him. I'm just not sure he's got a lot left in the tank. He just feels like a seven-win QB to me these days.

That said, the AFC South doesn't look all that impressive right now, so the Colts could win it without a lot of stress. The Texans, well, they're the Texans. The Jags could surprise people this year. They should be better than they've been recently. Doug Pederson is a competent head coach, which is a big improvement for them. I'm liking the Jags a bit. The Titans feel like a team that's looked around the AFC and said, "We're not as good as the best teams in the conference. We need to get better at key spots." They look like they've decided to rebuild on the fly with Malik Willis getting prepped in 2022 to take over in 2023 or 2024. "AJ Brown? Who needs him? We'll draft a kid to replace him!" You don't trade a kid like Brown unless you're in rebuild mode.

They're trying to do it on the fly which is tricky to accomplish. "We'll keep Tannehill this year and then slide in Malik next year to take over." It can work, but it generally doesn't. The Titans will be interesting to watch. Tannehill has been around long enough to know that their drafting Malik Willis isn't good for his long-term job security in Tennessee. How will that affect him? We'll have to see.

The AFC South will be fun to watch in 2022. I think the Texans will still be at the bottom. Of the possible "worst to first" teams, I would say Jacksonville is the most likely to accomplish that. (The other possible contenders are Baltimore (not really a worst team just injury-ravaged in 2021), Jets (no shot at dethroning Buffalo, but they should be better,) Broncos, (eh, maybe, but that AFC West is tough,) Giants (no shot,) Lions (yeah, not going to happen,) Panthers (nope,) and Seahawks (not without a real QB.) Of those "worst" teams, Jacksonville might be best positioned to go from worst to first. They've got the kid QB. A competent coach. A decent draft and free agency period. They'll need to get their heads straight, but the Jags could win the South. There's not a truly dominant, "we can't beat them" team in the AFC South.

I like Frank Reich, but he's got a hand or two tied behind his back. He lost offensive coaches last year when Nick Sirianni raided the staff to go to Philly and defensive coaches this year when Matt Eberflus took off to Chicago. Rebuilding a coaching staff on the fly isn't easy. Doing it in two back-to-back years is really tough. The guys who leave and take coaches with them tend not to take the lesser quality coaches. They take the guys they know are good. It's not always fun and games being an NFL head coach. 

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

Yeah, the Cowboys look to be setting up McCarthy to take the fall for a bad year so they can fire him and replace him. It's hard to look at their roster and say they're better at any spot than they were in 2021. Some of their kids are more experienced, but some of the vets have more wear. Those two tend to balance out. They've got some good pieces to build around for 2023 and 2024 in Parsons, Lamb, and a few other kids, but the 2022 roster looks worse than last year's. I don't see it being stronger at any spot. That's not ideal after free agency and the draft.

My suspicion is they're planning to flop a bit this year. Fire McCarthy. Bring in a new head coach. Dump Zeke's contract in 2023 (just an $11.8 million dead cap hit in 2023) and then spend like mad in free agency and try to climb back into things. Dak will have a cap hit of $49+ million in 2023 and $52+ million in 2024, so they need to fix that somehow. They can't cut him in 2023 as he'd have an $89 million dead cap hit, but it drops down to $40 million in 2024, so if worse comes to worse, they could flush him then. I suspect they'll renegotiate it and move some money forward. That's good for Dak but bad for the Cowboys in the future.

The Cowboys have put themselves into an interesting spot. I don't see an especially rosy future for them at this point. I think the Eagles have passed them. I think the Commanders are neck-and-neck with them. And the Giants are coming up fast behind them. 

[teganslaw]

Update: Tyrann Mathieu is expected to sign with the Saints. The deal should be finalized in a couple days.  The Eagles were in the mix, but the Saints apparently were the front runners. Being aggressive worked for NO. 

[gardenman]

I'm not surprised by the Mathieu signing. The Saints had $11 million more in cap space than the other teams vying for him. Money tends to win those tugs-of-war.

If anyone is looking for a good guard/center, Nate Herbig is available. Big Nate is a good, solid guard, but the Eagles are eyeball deep in good solid o-linemen so after failing to find a trade partner for Nate they opted to release him. He won't wow anyone, but he's a good solid guard. He won't get your QB killed. He may not be all that effective as a down-the-field blocker on running plays, but he's a good solid guard.

I may be missing something with the Saints. The "experts" are all saying they'll be really good in 2022. Uh, okay. They have Jameis Winston coming back from a torn ACL as their QB. And they pretty much waited until every other QB was taken before resigning him, so it's not like they love the guy. And with upper-tier QBs making $40+ million a year, they signed him for $14 million, so it's not like they outbid everyone for him. You can make a decent argument that no one else wanted him and he settled for $14 million a year.

The Commanders gave up two draft picks and are paying Wentz $32 million this year. If they thought Winston was even close to Wentz and they could have gotten him without giving up anything and paid him half as much, wouldn't they have done that? And if not them, then one of the other QB needy teams like the Colts or Seahawks? So, why do the "experts" think he'll lead the Saints to greatness? 

The Saints also have a new head coach in Dennis Allen. The old coach was a pretty sharp guy. They play the Panthers (twice), Falcons (twice), Bucs (twice), Rams, Seahawks, Ravens, Bengals, Raiders, Vikings, Cards, Browns, Steelers, Niners, and Eagles. Likely wins are the Panthers (2), Falcons (2), and Seahawks. Likely losses are the Bucs (2), Rams, Cards, Ravens (assuming they stay healthy), and Bengals. Iffy games would include the Eagles, Vikings, Raiders, Browns, Steelers, and Niners. That has them at 5-6 with six games up for grabs that could go either way. Their best-case scenario is 11-6. The worst case is 5-12. They'll probably end up somewhere in the middle of that at 8-9 or 9-8. 

I just don't see them being an upper-tier team in 2022. We'll have to see if the "experts" are right or not.

The first of the PED suspensions are coming down now. Teams will be a bit nervous between now and the end of July as this is suspension season. WR DeAndre Hopkins of the Cards was the first to bite the dust. He got a six-game suspension (likely will be appealed down to four the way these things go) as his test reportedly had traces of three different PEDs and masking agents.

I would expect the Deshaun Watson suspension to be announced before the end of July also. Six games seems like where that'll land. It could start out as nine games and then get appealed down to six. We'll have to see. The league could opt for a full-year suspension also, but I suspect we'll see something more like six to nine games. We'll have to see.

The eternal debate among NFC East fans is "How many Cowboys will get suspended?" Three to five is generally a safe bet. I'm not sure we've seen a year in recent memory where none were.

Every team's GM is a bit nervous this time of year and has a mild coronary whenever they hear from the league office. You don't tend to get good news from the league this time of year if you're a GM. When you hear from the league it's usually to tell you that one of your guys is in trouble and will be suspended. They pretty much never call to just say hi. If they're calling, it's usually with bad news.

Want to see a head coach in tears? Have the GM tell him the league office called today about one (or more) of their guys getting in trouble. You've put together a roster in the offseason. You've got a plan, and one knucklehead can blow it all to pieces.