Sports

[teganslaw]

What is the penalty if a player moves before the ball is caught? The game should be fun to watch with everyone adjusting to the new rules. 

[gardenman]

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@teganslaw wrote:

What is the penalty if a player moves before the ball is caught? The game should be fun to watch with everyone adjusting to the new rules. 

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I would assume a five-yard illegal procedure penalty. They'll need someone watching the kicker each kick to be sure he doesn't cross the fifty. They'll need people watching the players lining up to ensure everyone's in place. It's going to be a bit complicated. The right kick returner and a few good blockers in front of him could give a team a big advantage though. 

[Spurt]

Jason Kelce could supplant Robert Griffin III on ESPN's pregame football show ! Jason is popular and CBS, NBC, and Amazon have also expressed an interest in him.....all except Fox who are bringing Tom Brady on board.

And Bill Belichick has said he's not inclined to be part of a regular network show! He hasn't ruled out a part time gig with NFL films or Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions.

Eagles Exec, Jake Rosenberg, has handled salary cap management and contract negotiations in Philly, but did so under Howie Roseman and would like to see if he can find an opportunity to be the decision-maker for another franchise. He plans to leave the Eagles after this year's draft.

[teganslaw]

According to Ian Rapoport, there is "no indication" that a deal will be made to extend Dak Prescott's contract. He will be a free agent in 2025, and the Cowboys won't be able to place a franchise tag on him. Dallas has shown no intention of working with Prescott this season. The Cowboys will have 40 million in dead cap space if Prescott goes the free agency route in 2025. That's something to watch down the line. 

Tom Grossi of Packast has a couple videos on the NFL rule changes: Explaining what the new rules mean and the refs' reaction to the new rules. Both videos are only a few minutes and are found on Youtube. If one has time to watch, they are very entertaining. He nails it. 

[Spurt]

The Broncos are signing San Antonian and John Jay High School alumni and former #Lions WR Josh Reynolds to a two-year deal worth a maximum of $14 million, source says. 

[gardenman]

The Cowboys and Dak will be fun to watch. The Cowboys seem intent on letting him test free agency in 2025, and there will be lots of bidders. There's some speculation that the Cowboys wouldn't mind a collapse, then sign Deion Sanders as their new head coach and draft his kid to replace Dak. They'd need a big collapse to be sure to get the kid though. A planned collapse could explain their free agency moves.

[Spurt]

Being the best and Super Bowl Champs doesn't always mean owner/management is the best, in fact the Chiefs owner, Clark Hunt, was voted worst owner in the NFL!!!  When players heard the team was making changes after the 2022 season, they assumed the locker room would be included, but the only thing that happened there was to replace the stools with chairs....Whooppeee. Hunt cited miscommunication regarding locker room renovations, but added they were working on other changes such as a new cafeteria and other facility upgrades.....but no locker room updates! Sorry Chief players!!!  Cafeterias seem to be getting some attention, although the Saints claim it had nothing to do with the NFLPA Survey, they are also upgrading their cafeteria ....the cooking area was over 20 yrs old!

QB Nate Sudfeld has re-signed with the Lions....terms not available......He also played with the 49ers, Eagles, and Washington during his career.

Another team with a stadium issue---the Bengals stadium opened in 2000 and their lease expires in 2026......They can extend the lease or prepare to move and sign a lease somewhere else......STAY TUNED!!!!

[gardenman]

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was interesting in his interview on Tuesday regarding the NFLPA grades. He wants an "A" in every category and is already working to improve the grades in the areas where we came up short. The Dolphins are pretty much there now. Those scores combined with no state income tax give the Dolphins a big edge in signing free agents. 

It sounds like the Eagles and Haasan Reddick will be working out some sort of a deal. The trade market seems to have failed to meet expectations so far. The Eagles want a second-round pick for Reddick and then Reddick wants a top-of-the-market new contract ($25+ million a year) with whatever team acquires him. A second-round or third-round pick is fair value given that the Eagles would get a third-round pick in a compensatory pick if he leaves in free agency next year. The Eagles are reportedly offering somewhere in the area of $20 million a year while Reddick wants $25+ million.

The Eagles could use an extension with Reddick to lock down the edge rusher spot for a few more years. I believe only Bryce Huff and Nolan Smith are signed for 2025. Keeping Reddick would give more depth going forward. If he's gone, then drafting an edge rusher makes more sense, so expect the situation to be resolved by the draft one way or another. If Reddick signs, then edge becomes less of a need in the future. If not, then drafting a kid higher makes more sense.

Lots of chatter of the Eagles getting tight end Brock Bowers in the draft. If he starts to slip, then yeah, I could see that. They could move up to fifteen or so if he started to slide. Bowers is all over the place in mock drafts. Some have him going in the top ten, some have him slipping to the Eagles at 22. We lost current TE2 Jack Stoll in free agency and have some guys in line to replace Stoll, but Bowers would be an upgrade if he got near us. Given the number of Georgia players already on the roster, the Eagles would know a lot about him from them. He could be an immediate role player.

Most mock drafts still have the Eagles getting a corner. And they could, but I'm not sure the Eagles see a "need" there. They've got Slay and Bradberry as the starters. Isaiah Rodgers, Eli Ricks, Josh Jobe, Kelee Ringo, Mekhi Garner, Mario Goodrich, Tyler Hall, Zech McPhearson, and Tiawan Mullen in reserve. I think the Eagles think Rodgers, Ricks, and Ringo are their future starters. McPhearson may sneak in there also. He reportedly won a starting nickel role last year in camp before getting injured. Do they need to add yet another kid? 

I'm learning more towards a TE if Bowers slips, offensive line, or edge rusher (depending on what happens with Reddick). Maybe drop back and grab Edgerrin Cooper at linebacker? We'll add a RB at some point in the draft but not the first round. Wide receiver Xavier Worthy is getting a lot of attention from the Eagles also. Many view him as another DeSean Jackson. Adding him to this WR corps would be scary to defensive coordinators. If Worthy is there at 22, they'd have to consider him. There's some chatter of the Bills and Chiefs moving up to get Worthy.

The draft is just four weeks from today. Teams met at the league meetings and odds are some deals were cut there to move up or back in the draft depending on the situation. If the Eagles stay where they are and Brock Bowers falls to them, I suspect they'll run to hand in the card for him. If they move up in the draft, it'll likely be for Bowers to try and jump ahead of a team in front of them. If Bowers isn't there then OL or edge rusher would seem more likely. If the Eagles drop back in the round it'll be for a linebacker, Edgerrin Cooper most likely. Xavier Worthy is something of a wild card. They could make a move for him depending on how much they like him.  If they feel he'll be gone at 22, they could move up. If they think he'll be around later, they could move back for him. Or they could have their eye on another kid receiver in the draft. They added Parris Campbell and DeVante Parker in free agency, so they view WR 3 as a weakness. Adding Worthy could make it a strength.

[teganslaw]

Some mock drafts have the Colts getting TE Brock Bowers, haven't heard about him going to the Eagles. It all depends on how far Bowers drops. 

One would think that KC would have higher grades. Maybe the owners aren't that great after all. 

[gardenman]

Yeah, the Chiefs get a great grade on Andy Reid (A+), but average (C) to failing (F) on everything else. It is an older stadium/facilities and not the wealthiest owners, but those grades are pretty bad.

Brock Bowers is one of the interesting guys to watch on draft day. I've seen him well inside the top ten (as high as five) and as low as 22. If he slips to fifteen or so, I could see the Eagles moving up to get him. The top-paid TE (Kittle) in the NFL gets $15 million a year, so teams might not want to invest a lot in the kid by drafting him early. The first overall pick will get around $40 million in total or $10 million a year. Do you pay a rookie TE that much? When you get to the teens the total deal drops closer to $20 million or $5 million a year for four years. From fourteen or so on it drops even more to around $16 million or $4 million per year. That's more in line with what a rookie TE should get. 

A lot of teams look at the cost and calculate that into who they should draft and where they should draft them. They'll draft the higher-paid positions earlier and save the lower-paid positions for later. The rookie wage scale handicaps guys like TEs and RBs as they're lower paid in the NFL, so teams don't like to draft them early and pay them a lot.