Sports

[gardenman]

Well, this is fun. Brian Baldinger got his hands on OTA footage of JJ Arcega-Whiteside of the Eagles and he was very impressed. He later compares him to Antonio Brown, which is kind of impressive. The kid is good, but comparing to AB might be a bit over the top.  JJ is one of the more accomplished route runners coming out of college, simply because he had to be due to a lack of blinding speed.

I watched game film of him against Notre Dame and Notre Dame matched up their best corner against him man to man, and JJ had the poor guy spinning in circles. That corner was drafted by the Giants this year, so he's a decent corner, but JJ just killed him. JJ's ability to read the corner and force him to take a misstep is very impressive. Play after play he beats his guy regardless of the type of coverage. Corners try to force a receiver into a certain route that helps the ceverage by where and how they line up. JJ has the ability to defy the force and go where he wants with the defender caught on the wrong foot.

If he can continue to do that on the pro level, the kid could be something special. He's got the moves and savvy of a veteran pro receiver as a rookie and that's something you just don't see from most kids coming out of college. It'll be fun to see how he does in camp and the preseason. It looks like the Eagles might have gotten really lucky to get him though.

With Baldinger getting the OTA footage, which he could only get from the Eagles, it makes a trade of Agholor look more likely. By getting Baldy raving about the kid, the fans might be less upset about losing Agholor.

[gardenman]

Well, Robbie Gould and the Niners worked out a four year $19 million dollar deal before today's 4:00 PM deadline for franchise tagged guys. Will Clowney and the Texans work something out?

[Spurt]

@teganslaw    @gardenman 

Here's something interesting:

Per a league source, the Cowboys Zeke Elliott has privately said that he will hold out of training camp unless he gets a new contract.  He has significant value now, and after the next two years his worth to the franchise could plummet — either due to the wear and tear of playing tailback or a possible shift in offensive philosophy away from the team’s run-to-set-up-the-pass-but-still-run-a-lot strategy.

Due to make a salary of $3.85 million this year and $9.09 million in 2020, Elliott ultimately could looking for at least $10 million per year. Whether the Cowboys blink — and whether Elliott follows through on his plan to hold out — remains to be seen.

                                              ******

Alex Smith is no longer wearing the "tomato cage" external fixator, but has a long way to go on his healing journey.

                                             *******

On ESPN Mike Golic Jr. and Jason Fitzsimmons were asked who they thought were the two most interesting teams to watch in the NFL this season....

The results :  Eagles & Colts!!!!

Do y'all know these guys personally or what....😉😆

[gardenman]

Losing the external fixator is good. The pins through the fixator that hold the bone are a potential source of infection so with those pins gone the risk of future problems decreases. Now he's got to get back his strength and range of motion.

[gardenman]

No long term deal for Clowney so he'll be a free agent again next year. 

I'd have been stunned if Ezekiel Elliott didn't stage a protest of some sort. The Cowboys were way, way too open talking about their plans for him. When you publicly state that you're going to make him play out his fifth year option then franchise tag him for two years, you're daring him to sit out.

[teganslaw]

Just what the Cowboys need: Elliott to sit out the season. Jerry Jones must be losing sleep over this situation. 

Larry Fitzgerald said that Kingsbury is moving the Cardinals' offensively. He seems to be optimistic about the new coach. Things will be clearer in September. 

Analysts are probably interested to watch the Colts' draftees in action. The team got high marks in the draft, and players impressed in mini camps and OTAs. Hope that extends to the regular season. Also, Luck is going to be a father. Wonder if that will affect his playing. 

Good news about Alex Smith. It sounds like he's definitely on the mend. 

Maybe Clowney will end up with another team. I haven't heard on what his next move will be.

[gardenman]

The Cowboys strategy with Elliott is smart. Have him play out this year on his rookie deal. Exercise the fifth year option next year for $9 million, then tag him for two years and likely move on after that. It's a smart, cap-friendly way to handle a guy playing a short career position.

Publicly announcing it was stupid. Publicly they should have been saying: "We love Zeke, he'll be a part of the team for as long as he wants, but he's got two more years left on his rookie deal and we'll be talking about a new deal with fair compensation in the near future. Right now we've got some guys who are in their final year so we have to focus on them, but we take good care of our guys and Zeke's one of our guys."

Instead they pretty much said: "We're going to run him into the ground for the next four years, paying him as little as possible and then if he's not completely broken down or facing a lifetime ban, we'll consider signing him to a new deal at that time if he's willing to take a lowball offer, or else we'll move on to a new kid."

Suffice to say the less diplomatic approach taken by the Cowboys was not especially reassuring to Zeke or his reps and they've now got a problem on their hands. That Cowboys front office could really use some help with their messaging, both to the public and to the player. Exercise the fifth year option but assure Zeke that you'll be looking to extend him if not this year, then in the off-season. When next offseason rolls around have discussions with his agent and if the price is right, make the extension. If not, and it probably wouldn't be, then let him play out his fifth year option and become a free agent. He'll want to put on a good show for prospective bidders. Then hit him with the franchise tag so you only have to pay him the average of the top five RB's in the league. He'll have to play good again the next year to stay competitive as a free agent and you then have the option to sign him, let him leave, or tag him again and pay him 20% more than the last year.

All they had to do was keep reassuring him he was a vital cog and they'd take good care of him, but they instead made the mistake of making him into something of a wad of toilet paper they're planning to use and flush without paying for. They screwed up the messaging very badly.

[gardenman]

Interesting. The Eagles now have two empty roster spots. Are they for Darren Sproles and Connor Barwin? Could be. We'll find out next week.

[gardenman]

One week from today and the Eagles open training camp! So far, no one's gotten shot, stabbed, suspended or injured as far as I know. That's always a relief. Lots of Eagles players are working out privately heading into camp. Carson Wentz took a bunch of receivers to Houston to work with them on timing and routes. Nelson Agholor has been working with Randy Moss in California on boxing out defenders and getting better placement for the quarterback. Lane Johnson has been leading a group of offensive linemen from around the league sharing techniques and tricks they've learned. (Offensive linemen tend to be very good at sharing information among themselves. If one finds a weakness of a defensive player, that news will spread through the league like wildfire.)

The players will report on the 24th, get their physicals, have their first meetings then real practices start on the 25th. The new season is almost here.

This will be a fun year around the league. Lots of new coaches, some bringing new ideas. The situation with Arizona will be fun to watch. Will Kliff Kingsbury revolutionize the NFL game or be swept aside? (My money is on swept aside, but we'll see.) 

How bad will the Dolphins be this year? Will they even try to give Josh Rosen a chance to play well? The schedule makers weren't kind to them in the first four weeks.  They play the Ravens, Patriots, Cowboys, Chargers. Three, maybe all four of those teams could/should make the playoffs.

Who will be quarterback for the Redskins? 

Lots of crazy questions heading into the new season.

[gardenman]

There's at least one report circulating that the Eagles offered a third round pick for Jadeveon Clowney and the Texans refused. A third round pick is what the Texans would get in compensation for losing Clowney if he left in free agency next year, so it's a good starting point. Compensatory picks are tacked onto the end of the round so they'd end up getting one at least a bit higher by making the trade with the Eagles.

Word is the Texans will hold onto him unless someone offers a first round pick. I'm not sure they'll get that. It's not a bad price, but their unwillingness to sign him to an extension is "interesting." Reportedly their GM wanted to sign him to a long term extension but the head coach said no and that's what got the GM fired. When a head coach doesn't want a talented player signed long term, it's a eyebrow raiser. What does he know that the rest of us don't?

I haven't heard much negative about Clowney other than he gets dinged up a bit. He had microfracture surgery a while back and that tends to have a six year or so lifespan before something new needs to be done. The Texans even labeled him a linebacker instead of defensive end so they can tag him at a lower value which has Clowney and the NFLPA filing a grievance. I don't see him playing for the Texans this year right now, but we'll see what happens.