Sports

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

I'd never heard of the knee condition Carson Strong has, but it sounds like it's fixed after the second surgery. It's interesting in that part of the bone in the knee detaches and starts floating. The first surgery used dissolvable pins to try and lock the bone in place. That apparently failed, then a second surgery was done using a different technique. That seems to have worked. He had the knee cleaned out last year, but no further "work" was done to the bad section which implies that the last repair worked. His knee swelled and required draining several times during the season which has everyone a bit nervous, but was that due to the cleanout procedure or was something else going on?

We'll find out over time. He's a first-round talent in a draft lacking first-round talent at QB. To get him as a UDFA is pretty sweet. There's already talk around Philly of moving Minshew and having him be the backup. Eh, I think that might be a tad premature, but maybe next year.

How the knee holds up over time will be interesting to watch. There are still other options to fix it if need be, but for now, it sounds like it's been repaired and is holding up. If the kid can stay healthy and his knee holds together (pretty big ifs) he could be the steal of the offseason. 

It's a little surprising he wanted to come to Philly. There are other rosters where he'd be more likely to start sooner. Still, it's a good move on the Eagles' part. Very low risk and possibly a very high return. Other than the knee, he's everything you want in a kid QB. That knee though could be a rather large issue down the road. We'll have to see.

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

I wish someone would pay me $37.5 million a year to talk football. Heck, I'd settle for $37,500 to do it. 

Lots of schedule leaks are sneaking out ahead of the big release tomorrow night. If they're to be believed (and that's always iffy) the Eagles have at least two prime time games and at least two 4:25 games. It looks like we'll end the season against the Commanders instead of the Cowboys. That could be a "win and you're in" pre-playoff playoff game for one or both teams. I kind of expect the Eagles and Commanders to both be pretty good in 2022. That last game should be pretty important.

Nelson Agholor is looking forward to another year with the Patriots. Well, yeah. They vastly overpaid for him in free agency and didn't cut him when he played poorly, so why wouldn't he be looking forward to going back? His 37 catches for 473 yards while getting paid almost $12 million would make anyone happy to be back. Getting paid over $320,000 per catch is pretty good money. Whoo hoo! I'd be kind of surprised if he made the roster in 2022. They can save $4.8 million if they cut him loose and I suspect they will. He's got a $14.8 million cap hit, but just $10 million in dead cap, so saying bye saves $4.8 million. He's going to have to really impress them in camp to win a roster spot. I don't think he will. At this point, Agholor is who he is. This will be his seventh year in the league and he's twenty-eight, so what you've seen is what he is. 

The Eagles' restocking of the front office is proceeding well. They've now hired John Elway's right-hand man Matt Russell. He'll be a senior assistant to Howie and teams will be lining up to hire him to be a GM in the next year or two. Half the front offices in the league are stocked with guys who came through Philly. It's become the finishing school for aspiring NFL execs. Want to be a GM? Come to Philly! And the guys who leave here tend to do well elsewhere.

More rookie minicamps take place this weekend and more teams will learn just what they bought in the draft. Some teams will be happy, some won't. So far, the Eagles are very happy. (At least publicly.) Cam Jurgens (second-round center) seems to be getting a lot of praise, so that's good. The kid QB in Carson Strong has made a good first impression also. The only real question with him is can his right knee hold up? He's got the arm and the talent to play QB in the NFL. 

It sounds like a couple of the AFC West teams (Raiders and Chiefs) may get in a bidding war for James Bradberry, which is the best-case scenario for him. Two fierce rivals both wanting the same guy is great for him. Is it real, or just agent chatter though? We'll have to see. The Giants couldn't trade him for even a seventh-round pick due to his $13 million contract. That makes me wonder how real the market is for him. We'll find out in the coming days.

There are some pretty big names still out there in free agency, but the money they want isn't apparently coming. Some (Gronk and OBJ) are likely heading back to their old teams and already know it, but others may be waiting now until mid-training camp when injuries have taken a toll on rosters and teams get a bit desperate for a body.

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@gardenman 

ITA wouldnt we'd all like just a small portion of the money being paid to talk football which all of us like and do anyway...😀

I was going to ask you about Agholor you answered all my questions---

I think Gronk and OBJ will stay put...

[gardenman]

It's schedule release day! This is kind of the last big "event" of the offseason until training camp opens. Word is that the Eagles open at Arizona. Eh, okay. I might have preferred an easier game to start, but whatever. The good news is the Cards won't be prepared for what we throw at them as we're doing some new stuff this year and there won't be film on it.

It sounds like we're going to a base 3-4 defense over the old 4-3. Some of the players have let slip that the d-line and outside linebackers are now sharing coaches. Before this, the d-line was coached by the d-line coaches and the outside linebackers were coached by the linebacker coaches. Now the defensive ends and outside linebackers are being coached up by both groups which implies the defensive ends and linebackers will be largely sharing roles.

So, what will the Eagles' defense look like? I would expect Jordan Davis to be the nose tackle lined up over the center. Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave will line up between the offensive guards and tackles. A duo of some combo of Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat, Derek Barnett, and Haason Reddick will line up outside the offensive tackles. Five potential rushers against five potential blockers. That puts some burdens on the o-line. All five guys could come. One or more could drop into coverage. Picking an interior rusher (Cox, Hargrave, or Davis) to double gets more challenging as you may need all five blockers. There's lots of potential for that front five to do all kinds of damage. 

With the schedule coming out today, everyone will devote tomorrow and weeks to come dissecting the schedule. Some teams will catch a break or two and not play anyone coming off a bye. Some teams will get hammered by playing multiple teams coming off a bye. (A few years ago, the Eagles had five games against teams coming off a bye. Not fun.) Fans and "experts" will be going over the schedule and plotting out wins and losses for the next few months.

NFC East teams have something of an advantage with only one division team more than a bus ride away in Dallas. The Eagles, Giants, and Commanders are all close enough to make travel from game to game easier. Other teams have to fly everywhere.

If the NFL wants another "event" at some point they could schedule the release of the names of suspended players and then have cameras in all of the team's offices as they wait to see which, if any of their players are suspended and for how long. Watching the faces of the head coach and GM as they learn a star player is to be suspended for six games could be fun. Watching the relief when the commissioner announces they have no one suspended and the high fives are exchanged could be neat also. That's largely what occupies the June/July part of the NFL schedule, so why not make an event of it instead of dribbling out the names one by one. The "NFL Suspension Show!" Heck, I'd watch it. 

[teganslaw]

Just don't schedule the Colts first and last games in Jacksonville. Other than their own division, the Colts will play the NFC East and AFC West. The other three games are against the Vikings, Steelers and Patriots. 

I don't know the bye week or which games are at home vs road. 

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

Yep.I like your idea of making player suspensions a televised event, but the only problem is that the news would be DOMINATED by the Cowboys---- 😉😄....

But it might be fun to hear the excuses Jerry Jones would make 🤔

Well another marquee game on the schedule released,Sunday Night Oct 2---Chiefs vs Bucs (Tom vs Patrick)....

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

Yeah, JJ would be chomping his nails waiting for the news on suspensions. Watching the change in body language as teams learned which players would be out would be fun.

The big thing everyone will be watching before the season is the news on the Deshaun Watson suspension. Everyone knows it's coming. It's just a question of when and for how long? I'm pretty sure the fans in Cleveland would all tune in to watch if it was televised. If it's six games they'd nod and say, "Okay, that's what we expected." If it's three games they'd be high-fiving one another in celebration. If it's the full season they'd be dying. "You know, it's a good thing we kept Baker." 

[Spurt]

@gardenman @teganslaw 

Poor Baker held hostage in Cleveland awaiting Watson's verdict by the NFL....and Baker didnt do anything except tried to play through an injury to try to help his team, but its like he's being punished for Watson's actions...SMH!!!   Rumor was Watson could be out 6 games.....

Anyone else tired of hearing about the Jets almost as annoying as Joe Namath's Medicare commercials.....they are a bunch of unproven guys...wouldnt you want to see them play together first before braggin em up????? 🙄

[teganslaw]

The hype surrounding the Jets doesn't bother me. Let their fans be happy for once. The Jets might end up disappointing everyone, but in the meantime, it doesn't hurt them to show some confidence. 

The neverending news and praise about Tom Brady annoys me more. 

I would like to see suspensions being televised. NFL Network and ESPN could have a program dedicated to that. 

When DeShaun is suspended, Jacoby Brissett will replace him. I doubt that Baker Mayfield is even considered in the lineup, unless there is no other option. 

[gardenman]

Baker Mayfield is in a tough spot. His cap hit and dead cap hit are the same, so there's no real incentive to cut him if you're the Browns. He's at $18+ million if they cut him or keep him, so unless they can find someone to take him in a trade, they'll pay him the same either way. You might as well keep him if you have to pay him anyway. No one seems willing to trade for him and he's in limbo.

Jimmy G is in a much better spot. His cap hit is $26.95 million, and his dead cap is only $1.4 million, so the Niners will do something with him at some point to free up the cap space. They can cut him (which may be what the Seahawks are waiting for) or trade him and save $25.55 million in cap space. Knowing you can save $25.55 million in cap space is pretty nice. Jimmy G will get moved before Baker. The Niners will likely cut him in the near future if they can't find a trade partner. And with everyone knowing they'll have to cut him, why trade for him?

I have a suspicion that the Seahawks want Jimmy G. They've played against him enough to really know him. They also know the Niners won't trade him to them. So, they're playing the waiting game knowing that at some point the Niners will need that $25.55 million and Jimmy G will be cut loose. The Seahawks will host a "Welcome to Seattle" party for Jimmy G and be a contender in the NFC West again. I'm pretty sure the Niners suspect that's the plan also and are holding onto Jimmy G as long as possible, but with 25.55 million reasons to let him go, they'll have to give up eventually and cut him free. 

The Panthers seem content with Corral as their QB of the future and Darnold as the guy for now, so Seattle is the last open dance card and the Niners know it. And the one place they don't want Jimmy G to go is Seattle. Still, that $25.55 million could come in pretty handy for things like signing rookies, and extending veterans. The Niners have less than $1 million in cap space now and have to sign their entire rookie class, so they need that money. Jimmy G will be a Seahawk before too long if my guess is right. I'm pretty sure the Niners know it too and are doing everything possible to avoid it. 

We'll have to see how that all plays out.

[gardenman]

The only team with the cap space to take on Jimmy G's current contract is the Panthers with $26.6 million in cap space. So, if the Niners can trade him, it would pretty much have to be to the Panthers. And the Panthers know it, so they'd hold out for the best possible deal. This could be one of those "You give us Jimmy G and a third-round pick, and we'll give you a sixth-round pick back" types of deal that teams hate. 

I think the Niners would release him before doing something like that, but you never know. I don't think the Panthers really want Jimmy G either. He'll want an extension or new deal if he goes to them and that would get pricey and they've somewhat committed to Corral for the near future. 

The Seahawks don't have a ton of cap space, but they can give Jimmy G a new deal with a big bonus, a small salary for year one, and then lots of money down the road. I think he'll end up in Seattle.