Sports

[Spurt]

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@teganslaw wrote:

@Spurt ,What's the latest on Fitzpatrick? Will he stay with the team when recovered, or a free agent? I think he signed a one year deal; it seems most players are doing that now. 

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@teganslaw  @gardenman 

Based on what Ive read so far, it looks like Fitz is not in WFT's plans for next year...but I keep hearing that they will keep Heinicke as a backup but you never know he could end up being the starter again...... 

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

Resigning Scherff will be a challenge. They can't tag him again. He'll likely test free agency and see where the market is. He'll want $18 million plus a year to stay in DC that he got on the tag in 2021. He's more of a $12-$13 million a year guard. It'll be an interesting negotiation.

QB is the big issue for a lot of teams. Suffice to say the kid QBs will be under a microscope leading up to the draft. Teams possibly taking a QB ahead of the WFT in the draft would be Detroit at two, Houston at three (if they're not sold on Davis Mills), maybe the Giants at five and seven, Carolina at six, Atlanta possibly at eight, and Denver at nine. Unless the WFT move up, the pickings will likely be slim.

Is there a likely free agent that's definitely better than Heinicke? I don't think so. Can the WFT win the bidding war for Watson, Rodgers, or Wilson? Not easily. If I was betting, I'd say Heinicke was QB for the WFT next year. They might go for a Mariota or Winston, but neither one's a great option.

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@gardenman 

There have been rumors that the WFT wouldnt mind making Scherff the highest paid lineman since good ones are scarce....2022 the WFT has 54 mill in cap space...

[grandma r]

@gardenman. You are so right about the officials.  They've gotten so much worse.  And, yes, Brady campaigns hard.  TB, Aaron, and the boys at home usually do get favorable treatment.

[Spurt]

@teganslaw 

I heard T.Y. Hilton was contemplating retirement....

[gardenman]

This is the time of year when veteran players out of the playoffs assess their injuries and the upcoming surgeries needed to continue playing and ask, "Is it worth it?" Coaches and GMs will encourage them to take their time to make a decision. (Just not too long.) Most will decide, "Yeah it's worth it" and come back. Especially if they're happy with the coaching staff. Joe Judge had four guys (I think) retire in training camp this past year which is pretty much unprecedented. 

Most of the older guys who are wondering if it's worth it, will watch the playoffs and realize how much they miss playing. There's a certain amount of "I'm better than him. Why is he still playing and I'm at home watching him?" They'll start looking at their roster and know that with a new guy here and there, they could be playing in the playoffs and winning a Super Bowl. "We're not that far off. If we get a new QB, a couple of WRs, a good RB, and maybe three new o-linemen we'll be right there." Then they get into the "Do I want to miss our finally hitting our peak?"

There's also the lack of paychecks coming in that tends to focus them a bit more on the benefits of playing. When those weekly checks from the playing season stop coming and money is only going out instead of both coming and going, it tends to refocus them a bit more.

Eagles center Jason Kelce has considered retiring each year for several years now.  This year he redid his deal with a poison pill of somewhere between $30-$40 million if he's still on the roster on June second. He did that so he could walk away if he wasn't happy with the coaches or the team's direction. The team pretty much has to cut him loose before June second or the poison pill will kick in. He can then decide if he's coming back or not. 

[teganslaw]

TY Hilton was thinking about retiring before the 2021 season. When he decided to stay another season he restructured his contract to save cap space. 

He has been frequently injured and since Michael Pittman is the #1 receiver, I wouldn't be surprised to see Hilton leave.  Doyle has been with the Colts since 2013, and has admitted that his body has taken a toll over the years. 

Whatever happens with players, Reich and Ballard are staying since Irsay has mentioned that he has faith in both of them. 

 Eberflus interviewed with Jacksonville, but I don't know details. 

[Spurt]

@gardenman @teganslaw 

It looks like the Eagle's VP Catherine Raiche is going to be interviewed for a job with the Vikings!!!

I didnt realize there have been an increase of women Executives and coaches in the NFL.....

I know the WFT hired a woman assistant coach, and added several women Execs to their front office...In 2021 they had 12 women coaches throughout the league .Woman are starting to take  over the NFL ----WATCH OUT!😉

And GARDENMAN  the Bears are interviewing your old coach Doug Pederson.....

[gardenman]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Zach Ertz go to Indy. He'll be a free agent after the season and has good connections with Reich and Wentz. I don't think the Cards will use the tag on him. He's old enough that teams won't be lining up to sign him, but he's still got a few good years left in him. 

There are some pretty big-name free agent receivers available this year. Two are coming off injury and might opt for a one-year prove-it type deal (Godwin and Gallup). Cedrick Wilson of the Cowboys might be playing his way into a big deal. He's been playing well since getting a shot after Gallup's injury. He's still pretty young too. The Bears will likely tag Robinson. The Packers will likely tag Adams. Guys like Godwin, Gallup, and Wilson should reach the market though. If you need to replace a TY Hilton, those would be pretty decent options.

It'll be interesting to see how far Jameson Williams falls in the draft after tearing up his knee. He's going to be getting some very close looks at the Combine. He was a top ten guy before the injury. Will he slip? How far? Out of the first-round? You can't really expect much from him in 2022. He'd be an investment piece. Potentially a very good return on the investment though.

[gardenman]

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@Spurt wrote:

@gardenman @teganslaw 

It looks like the Eagle's VP Catherine Raiche is going to be interviewed for a job with the Vikings!!!

I didnt realize there have been an increase of women Executives and coaches in the NFL.....

I know the WFT hired a woman assistant coach, and added several women Execs to their front office...In 2021 they had 12 women coaches throughout the league .Woman are starting to take  over the NFL ----WATCH OUT!😉

And GARDENMAN  the Bears are interviewing your old coach Doug Pederson.....

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The Eagles had a female GM from 1983-1985. If the Vikings hire Catherine to be their GM it would give the Eagles two third-round picks as compensation for losing her. (One in 2022 and one in 2023.) Women have held pretty high-ranking jobs in the NFL for some time, they just didn't get the media attention they do now.

Pretty much everyone is interviewing Doug Pederson. The Bears, Jags, Vikings have all interviewed him and he's got more interviews scheduled. Doug going to Chicago would be interesting. Foles is still there (for now anyway) so that could be interesting. 

I think Doug is best suited for a more media-friendly city. He doesn't respond well to an adversarial press. It wears him down. He needs a local media that's more cheerleader and less firing squad. The Philly media is all firing squad. (For example, a recent article argued that Sirianni is a bad coach because there were games the Eagles could have won but didn't. The writer suggested the Eagles consider upgrading to a new, better head coach.)

Will Doug be successful elsewhere? Eh, hard to say. You can make a pretty good argument he ruined Wentz. Alienating your franchise QB is not a good trait for a head coach. Was it just a clash of personalities? Wentz was his best in 2017 and degraded from there. A QB should improve each year. How much was Wentz and how much was Doug? 

If I were an owner interviewing him, that's what I'd want to know. What happened to you and Wentz? Does he accept any responsibility? Did he learn anything from that? How has whatever happened changed him as a coach? What would he do differently now?

The Jags have Trevor Lawrence, and the Bears have Justin Fields. I'm pretty sure neither team wants their kid QB ruined by the coach. You want your kid to improve under the coach. Did Wentz improve under Doug? Eh, no. Why not? If Doug can provide good answers for those issues, he could get another job. I'd be a bit nervous about him though. He pretty much talked himself off the Eagles last year. How committed would he be to my team? Where is his head at now? There are issues with hiring Doug. You get a Super Bowl-winning coach, but you also get a coach who pretty much walked away from a job after destroying the franchise QB. Not necessarily the best possible resume.

[gardenman]

Something else I'd want to know from Doug would be his views on injuries. The Eagles were one of the most injured teams during his tenure. Why was that? Bad luck? Over work? Older players? What did he learn? What would he do differently?