Sports

[gardenman]

The Dwayne Haskins story has taken an unpleasant turn. The toxicology report indicates that he had 2.5 times the legal limit of alcohol and also Ketamine in his system at the time he was hit. He was apparently on his way home from a night out clubbing when he ran out of gas.

The original story was that he was on his way to practice with his teammates in the area when he ran out of gas and got hit. That's not apparently what truly happened. The reports now indicate he was standing in the middle of the interstate trying to wave down a car/truck when he got hit. He's gone from an innocent victim of a reckless driver to being a reckless drunk/druggie.

The Steelers have acknowledged now that he had alcohol and marijuana issues while with them. I don't know if they sought counseling for him or not, but he was apparently a bit out of control. It's sad that it ended like that, but maybe it'll be a warning to others not to do what he did.

Just to follow up on the Jimmy Moreland signing. The Eagles had put in a claim for him last year when he got cut by the Commanders, but they were behind the Texans in the claim order and missed out on him. They view him primarily as a slot corner and were able to claim him this go-round. Avonte Maddox is the starting slot corner for the Eagles but adding Moreland gives the Eagles more depth there.

The Eagles now have something like thirteen corners on the roster. That will be a pretty competitive fight for a roster spot come training camp. I'm guessing a few of them might get moved to safety. Darius Slay and James Bradberry will be the two outside starters. (They're one and two in pass breakups in the NFL since 2016 also.) Avonte Maddox will be the slot guy. Figure three of the ten other guys will be backups and seven will be cut loose (or practice squad guys.) It's a lot of players for a few roles. We'll have to see who rises to the top.

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

A very sad ending to a young life that had great potential and opportunity ......

I dont think scenes in movies and TV shows that feature people getting drunk or being drunk are funny at all.....so many lives have been "lost" due to alcohol addiction....and there many innocent victims because of these addicts too ..

[gardenman]

Peter King is now a believer in the Eagles ranking them ninth in his latest power rankings. It all comes down to injuries and QB play. If Hurts is the guy, they could end up as a top-five team. If he struggles, then the twenties might be more in line. This team feels like the 2017 team right now. Veteran additions that make a lot of sense to fill gaps. Not overpaying for anyone but adding quality and depth. In 2017 it was Alshon Jeffery. In 2022 it's AJ Brown. In 2017 it was Chris Long and in 2022 it's Haason Reddick. No major losses in players and lots of new additions. In 2017 we had Wentz in his second year as a starter. In 2022 we have Hurts in his second full year as a starter. 

Blogging the Boys writer RJ Ochoa seems to agree that the Cowboys have slipped while the rest of the NFC East has improved. It'll be an interesting year to follow the Cowboys. It feels like JJ is setting up McCarthy to fail so he has an excuse to fire him. 

[Spurt]

In Ron Rivera's Press Conference the status of Terry McLaurin's contract came up and Ron had this to say---"we've had communication and are working with him, and just a matter of time...."

HOPE SO we need TERRY! 

[teganslaw]

The NFL combine will stay in Indianapolis through '23 and '24.  No word on what happens after that, but officials decided that this works out best for everyone. There is no good reason (at least right now) for the combine to travel to different locations. 

Nick Foles' contract is for 2 years and worth 2.5 million annually. The Bears will get a 1 million dollar credit for Foles' salary which will reduce their dead cap space. 

The Colts signed former Ravens rb, Ty'son Williams. He had some good games filling in for injured players. 

[gardenman]

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@Spurt wrote:

In Ron Rivera's Press Conference the status of Terry McLaurin's contract came up and Ron had this to say---"we've had communication and are working with him, and just a matter of time...."

HOPE SO we need TERRY! 

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I'm guessing everyone in the Commander's front office wishes they'd extended him last year. WR salaries have taken a big jump in the last six months. It used to be that $20 million was top-tier. Now it's $5-$10 million over that former level. The longer you wait to extend a guy the pricier it gets.

[gardenman]

Kyle Shanahan is saying they won't cut Jimmy G if they can't trade him. Care to bet? I can give you 26.95 million reasons (his cap hit if kept on the roster) why they will. They have less than $1 million cap space and they need $3.3 (give or take a bit) million to sign their rookies. If they move or cut Jimmy G, it frees up $25.55 million in cap space. They also have an unhappy Deebo Samuel who wants a new deal and next year Nick Bosa is eligible for free agency. Extending him this year would be a very smart move.

They need the money they have tied up in Jimmy G. Their only real trade options are the Panthers and the Seahawks. Unless someone holds a gun to their head, they won't trade him to Seattle. That leaves the Panthers. But they have Darnold and the kid Matt Corral, so they can play it cool and offer a conditional seventh-round pick for Jimmy G knowing they're in the driver's seat. And they may not even want Jimmy G given his injury history and the fact that they invested in Matt Corral.

Deebo Samuel will want a deal in the $25 million a year range. Bosa will be looking at $20 million a year. Can you afford to pay a backup QB $26.95 million? Uh, no. The Niners know it. The rest of the league knows it. The Seahawks certainly know it. They're just sitting there waiting for Jimmy G to hit the waiver wire. The Niners are hoping that a "contender" will lose their QB in the OTAs and be desperate for a new QB and give them a call. That's a wildly optimistic viewpoint to have.

The Niners will move on from Jimmy G. If they can't trade him before training camp, then they'll cut him loose. They really have no other good options. They don't have many high-paid kids they can extend to shuffle around enough money to make Deebo Samuel happy in 2022. And unless Jimmy G goes, there's no way to extend both Samuel and Bosa.

No team has $26.95 million in cap space right now. The Browns are closest at $26.69, but they're knee-deep in QBs right now. (Mayfield, Watson, Brissett, and Dobbs.) Next up are the Panthers at $24.6 million. They could afford Jimmy G with a few minor adjustments, but they've got the kid in Corral and Darnold. Do they want Jimmy G? They could send Darnold to the Niners as their new backup QB (over Nate Sudfeld) but paying $18+ million for Darnold is a problem for the Niners.

The math says the Niners have to move on from Jimmy G. They really don't have a choice in the matter. His $25.55 in free money after moving on is important for them in 2022 and 2023. They need him gone.

[teganslaw]

The NFL is considering changes to the Pro Bowl. They might eliminate the game itself and showcase the players instead. Interest has decreased, and there is always a chance of injury during  a meaningless game. A decision should be made by this summer. 

The Arizona Cardinals will be on "Hard Knocks in Season" this November. That could be interesting in view of Kyler Murray wanting a new contract, but I don't know how Arizona was chosen. I thought that one of the qualifications for "Hard Knocks" was that a team missed the playoffs for two seasons. The Cardinals were in the 2021 playoffs, so how did they qualify? 

[gardenman]

Regarding the Pro Bowl, if you go back in time, there was the Chicago College All-Star Game also known as the College All-Star Football Classic, where the best college players would play a game against the best NFL players. Reviving something like that could be interesting. We have the Senior Bowl and East/West Shrine games now as collegiate All-Star events, but they're playing against guys they've already played against in college. Why not match a team of the best college players against the best NFL players?

It could be a pretty neat event. One more chance for GMs and scouts to evaluate the kids coming out against real NFL players. They did it in the past. Maybe it's time to go back to it again? It might require some sort of insurance policy for the kids, but it could make for good viewing. Even give the kids their first payday playing football. Though with the new NIL some kids are already millionaires coming out of college. One kid reportedly signed an $8 million NIL deal as a high school junior.

The Cards insist they'll get a deal done with Kyler Murray this summer. That implies things have settled down a bit and they're now on a similar path. Murray's agent was reportedly asking for $100+ million a year to make up for the years Murray was underpaid as a rookie. I'm guessing he's come off that position now and is back in the "normal" QB salary range of $40-$50 million a year on average.

QB salaries will be interesting to watch over the coming year as Murray and Lamar Jackson get new deals and guys like Dak Prescott come up for an extension. Will they blow past the $40-$50 million a year average?

Looking at the QB salary chart shows that Eagles undrafted free agent QB Carson Strong is getting paid more ($711,666) than draft picks Malik Willis and Matt Corral ($705,000). They may need to rethink the salary scale for rookies when an undrafted free agent gets paid more than a third-round pick. Carson Strong has reportedly looked very good so far in the limited exposure he's seen.

The NFL and NFLPA have expanded the practice squad to sixteen players and players now have to miss four games on IR before they can be reactivated, but more players can be reactivated, up to eight players per season. With a 53-man roster and 16 practice squad guys, that's 69 guys from the 90-man offseason roster who will make a team. Only 21 will miss the cut. And you can stash a few of those guys on IR and not have them count against the roster.

Teams like the Eagles who shuffle the practice squad players (routinely rotating two or three guys on and off the squad each week) can keep even most of them employed. It wasn't that long ago there was a 45-man roster and no practice squad and half the guys on the 90-man roster would be gone. It's almost a team and a half now compared to those days. There's much more roster stability for guys. You have to be pretty bad not to make a roster these days.

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

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@Spurt wrote:

In Ron Rivera's Press Conference the status of Terry McLaurin's contract came up and Ron had this to say---"we've had communication and are working with him, and just a matter of time...."

HOPE SO we need TERRY! 

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I'm guessing everyone in the Commander's front office wishes they'd extended him last year. WR salaries have taken a big jump in the last six months. It used to be that $20 million was top-tier. Now it's $5-$10 million over that former level. The longer you wait to extend a guy the pricier it gets.

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@gardenman 

Washington ALWAYS seems to make that SAME mistake!  They did that with Cousins, Schreff, and now Terry....Im surprised Jon Allen got his deal done so quickly......I wonder if its Snyder not willing to or unable to gather up cash that fast! 🙄...