Sports

[Spurt]

@gardenman @teganslaw @LavernLuvsShoes 

Jason Kelce pushed out RGIII from MNF.......I bet Jason will have a great career in broadcasting, he just has that engaging personality. Travis needed that raise afterall he has to compete with that wealthy girlfriend of his 

Actually, I thought RGIII did a good job on MNF.....What's funny is RGIII really did a lot of bad mouthing about Washington, a real vandetta against the team, his coaches---especially Mike Shanahan, medical mismanagement and teammates, he even was threatening to write a "tell all" book, "Surviving Washington" but I think it was his agent or ESPN or there's a rumor--"the team wrote him a check" which convinced him that would not help his broadcasting career, so the book was scrapped, (some fans joked that Kirk Cousins could probably write a book, "Surviving RG3" which would have probably debunked a lot of what RG3 wrote--lol)

However, now he's trying to cozy up like he's Washington's best friend and saying as a mobile QB himself, he could help Jayden Daniels transition to the NFL...and saying good things about the team, he even wanted to be one of the small investors of the team, but didn't make the cut thankfully......Many fans don't trust him and think he'd poison Daniels attitude toward the team and organization.  YES, a lot of alumni have stayed away from the Redskins but that was strictly because of Snyder and Snyder only, they loved their coaches and teammates.  Now that Snyder's gone so many have returned.....Josh Harris retiring Darrell Green's jersey number was well received and some say Riggo will be next....The only thing Snyder and Harris have in common is that they grew up as Redskin fans,(Harris is from MD) so Harris knows the history, traditions and players too...Riggos ceremony would be unique thats for sure, last yr he attended a game, and he wore a suit and the inside material lining had the old Redskin logo which he showed off often throughout the game...lol. 

So good to see the old players returning and hear them tell stories from their playing days.

[Spurt]

Michael Gallup has signed with the Raiders!

The Eagle's GM Howie Roseman shared one of his tips saying, we don't change our draft board because of need....He doesn't justify drafting a player more than the player's talent merits------- that's a mistake he won't make. Maybe all GMs should follow his lead, that's always been the draft dilemma ---- need or talent?????  Why pick a guy just because of a position but the guy needs coaching before he can start or even be a backup---better to fill that spot thru FA even though you might have to come up with some additional cash....! Roseman said "the Eagles had 24 players with first-round grades and knew at least a few would be there with the 22nd pick, so they liked what the could get by staying put."----HOWIE'S THE BEST GM IN THE NFL----jmho

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

Yeah, Howie always fills any roster holes in free agency then targets the highest-rated player on the board when his pick comes around. If they can move up at a fair price to get a guy with a higher rating, he'll do it, but when you reach to fill a need, you get in trouble.

This year he uncharacteristically poached a lot of guys from other teams' practice squads and signed them to futures contracts. He did that because the draft pool this year was a bit shallow with lots of kids staying in school to collect their NIL money. He realized that the talent level in undrafted free agent kids wouldn't be all that high, so he grabbed former undrafted free agents from other teams' practice squads who had a year's experience. He added three extra picks in next year's draft as he expects it to be a deeper draft.

In a typical year, Howie will add fifteen to twenty undrafted kids, but there just weren't enough that deserved the shot this year, so he went in a different direction starting way back in January and February and signed guys from practice squads. 

Howie likes to identify the guys he wants to keep early and get money into their hands earlier than absolutely necessary so he has to pay them less later. This year alone he's signed DeVonta Smith to a new contract two full years before he had to. The same with Jordan Mailata, Jake Elliott, AJ Brown, and Landon Dickerson. All signed new deals that will start in two or three years that are "top of the market" now, but when they start they'll be more mid-tier. But the players will have had two to three years to invest the signing bonus they got now so they'll end up with as much money, or more if their investments pay off, as they'd have gotten by waiting and getting a then top-market deal. Their contract numbers look big now, but in two or three years when they kick in, they'll be more mid-tier and very affordable under the cap.

That ability to always be looking ahead keeps the Eagles competitive. There won't be as many good kids who don't get drafted in 2024. Let's steal talented guys from other teams' rosters then. We don't want to lose a guy in free agency or get in a bidding war for him in two or three years, so let's sign him now to a top market deal as an extension, give him a load of cash now and he'll look underpaid when the new deal starts, saving us cash space while he still gets his money. 

With guys like CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson in line for new deals that will start this year, and more top receivers getting new deals each year, when AJ Brown's $32 million a year extension kicks in a couple of years, he'll look like a bargain and be less of a cap hit than other guys.

Howie is very, very good at what he does, but he also has the right owner. Devonta Smith's signing bonus was $20+ million. That's a lot of cash to pony up for a guy who could get injured and not even be able to play when his new deal kicks in. I haven't read what AJ Brown's signing bonus was but figure somewhere around $30 million. Jeff Lurie is willing and able to put up the cash early to save money in the long run while a lot of owners aren't as willing (or able in some cases) to do that. The total cash out of pocket for all of the signing bonus extensions Howie gave out this year was likely around $100 million. That's a significant amount of cash to invest in a gamble that the guys will still be playing in two or three years. 

By giving players tens of millions before their new deal kicks in, the players can invest that money now and not worry about the value of their contract later. When AJ Brown's extension kicks in, he's likely to be the tenth or so highest-paid WR. DeVonta won't even be in the top ten and might just barely be in the top twenty. But they'll have made as much, or more money than the guys with seemingly bigger deals signed later due to investing that signing bonus cash early.