TheLynchTrain

Digital Sunday Ticket (sundayticket.tv) just opened up their prices this year - its 199 again for a laptop, 259 for TV connected through a console, or 359 for everything and red zone and fantasy zone. I got the laptop deal (which I just hdmi to my tv) last year for the same price and I'm doing it again. I really didn't experience any of the connection issues I've heard others talk about, but then again I've got pretty fast internet. EDIT: Looks like you can split payments in 4 months for no additional charge for those that like to do that business

I'm happy that Maybin is doing something that makes him happy and I hope to god that money doesn't run out. That being said there was quite a bit of whine and hyperbole in that story - A rookie telling coaches to cut him if he's not playing after 6-7 games? Aaron Schobel weighing 300 pounds in the offseason? Give me a break. I for one like Tim's writing style, but he should have done a little more fact checking on this one, or at least separated some of the whine from reality. It sounds like whatever came out of Maybin's mouth went into the story.

Outside revenue, obviously. Regional Sports Networks are huge cash cows these days for sports owners. Even with the fact we're talking about the Buffalo media market, I had no idea the Sabres were pulling 10-15 M a year in rights and advertising fees. I imagine Kim seems to think they can make even more after dumping a whole bunch of money in startup network costs. Big risk, but hey it's their money. Deadspin also posted this interesting article recently regarding NBA owners and RSNs. Basically, in order to circumvent shared Basketball Related Income (BRI) owners are employing all these different accounting tricks and getting away with it because the CBA didn't account for it. Obviously football is treated quite differently (with the national TV contracts and all) but I have a feeling hockey might line up quite similar CBA wise to basketball. Complete speculation, but I think this may be influencing the Pegula's decision on a sports network. http://deadspin.com/the-nbas-next-labor-war-is-here-1703832294

The last of the Marshawn trade

Dorial Green-Beckham

I'm not so sure he falls into the compensatory formula since he wasn't tendered. From OTC:

Just saw this. Hilarious

Thanks Wikipedia. I'm not saying he may not be a decent replacement to Searcy, but the "dropped in the draft" excuse at this point in his career is hogwash. Regardless of where he was drafted, he was still cut a year in a half after being drafted, which raises a red flag right there in my mind. Wouldn't that mean it would be worse if a second or third round talent was cut after a year? Typically (with some exceptions) teams at least give guys 2 years, regardless of the round. One game doesn't make a career.

If I had to guess its probably a video from domestic violence incident with his mother back in 2012. While I understand why the Cowboys would try and torpedo Dez's value throughout the league, I'm not sure I buy the logic. These articles are also saying the Cowboys are "terrified" of it getting out - does that mean they have a copy or are trying to suppress it? If the video came out, wouldn't they get in trouble with the GingerHammer just like the Ravens by actively sweeping something the rug an not informing the league?

Of course. I was probably not clear enough when I said $100 million - I was referring to a "per team" (1/32) cut of expansion fees if they were able to get both teams to go for $1.6 billion, give or take ($3.2B/32 = $100M a team). Yes, some owners may jump at the ability to collect a sweet one time payment, but will all of them? I imagine quite a few would rather keep their percentage stake in the NFL rather than giving it away for a lump sum. Remember, Goodell is pushing this idea to the owners that he can get to $25B in revenue ($17B by tv money alone) by 2027. This sounds like fantasy to me and many others, but owners may think differently. If a majority of them actually believe the Goodell kool-aid, do you really think they'd be willing to split the pie with another two folks for the chance to make $100 M immediately?

Got it. But do you really think the owners (or at least a majority) are willing to expand? If they're gonna expand, they'll have to expand to two more teams (no way they'll just go with 33). We know this will cause schedules and divisions will go haywire and it may be tough for competitive reasons to field another 100 rostered players (and 200 for the offseason). But it always comes down to money. Does the fact they'll get an upfront payday from expansion fees really outweight the fact their share of TV revenue drops from 1/32 to 1/34? That could be anywhere from 10-20-25 M drop in their cut of shared revenue for the chance to cash in on a one-time balloon payment (which may be 80-100 M depending on how big the expansion fees are). In my humble opinion, I don't think enough owners would go for it.

I know we've seen reports (only speculation) on St. Louis getting another team if the Rams move. But in all honesty, from the NFL's perspective, why would they go back to that market? I'm not hating on St. Louis in any way, and I do feel for them that they got stuck with a scheming bastard of an owner. But if the Rams move, St. Louis has proven twice they can't retain a football team (Cardinals and Rams) whether it was their fault or not. There's also the fact that the city and metro area are in no way booming. Don't you think the NFL would look at other regions that are on the upward trajectory in growth? Maybe San Antonio, or another wildcard like Portland? Yes, I realize that by metro region standards St. Louis is still larger than both these cities, but you could argue the latter two may have better future growth projections. I'm also unsure whether the NFL wants to expand past 32 teams for competitive (enough talented players?), financial (splitting the owner pie even further?) and schedule (32 teams/16 games/4 team divisions) reasons.

This isn't a bad valuation. However, we all know how important QBs are - if we were really being honest here I'd say I'd make the QB ratio out of 30 for a total of 100. Which would give the Bills here a 49/100 (or a 51/100 if you gave QB 3/30). Either way, its average, and still above #24 in the league.

I was worried when I saw "Browns" as his current employer, but since since he's been there less than a year, I think that's ok. I think its HUGE that this guy used to be the NFL's VP of Football Operations (Troy Vincent's predecessor). Provided he didn't have a falling out with Goodell (why would the NFL recommend him to Pegs then?), I think this will do us some good. I think its fairly common knowledge now that Goodell has his favorites - who knows, maybe this will help us if the Bills ever get in a bind punishment wise? It can't hurt. EDIT: I would also imagine there's some advice he can offer to the Pegulas on the ongoing stadium situation.

That link won't open for me (probably my computer, not your link), but I think its probably this NY Daily News article? I know the Daily News is known more for its shocking headlines rather than credible reporting, but I don't see where they sourced the $300 M figure. They mention "$300 million over seven years" but don't back it up any way. I've seen other sources quote him at $123 M over 7 years. I believe the NFL has tried to argue his $44 M was really deferred compensation from prior years, including during the lockout when Goodell got on his high-horse and said he "wasn't taking a penny until this is resolved." I wonder if those ticket, equipment and back office folks got "deferred compensation" too. Something tells me no. Unless the $300 M compensation package is credible going forward, I'm not sure those in the media bitching about the $44 M salary are being completely accurate. It sounds like it was more of a one-time bonus, kind of like the roster bonus triggers players may have in their contracts. Either way, its way too much money for this dumpster fire who goes around and tells his subordinates they are overpaid.

And La Canfora's continued assurances that the Bills moving to Toronto was a "done deal." in fact, the guy loves the "done deal" phrase - I think every time he's used it, he blows it.

I think the whole "he makes them money and takes all the hits so they don't" might not be as solid as people think. As mentioned above, Kermit the freaking Frog could have run this league the last half dozen years and done the same job. You also have this stunning (for me at least) revelation in GQ: I knew about the Walking Dead stuff and chalked it up to unusually crappy prime time football this year, but the loss of young viewership? The pessimism of the average fan? You can't make that crap up.

I'd imagine it would have to originate with the "compensation committee," of which the GQ article today mentioned Kraft, Ross and McNair are members. Since all three provided circle-the-wagons, out-of-touch responses with regards to Goodell in that piece, I'd say he's pretty safe. They are 32 individuals though, and no 32 folks agree on everything. The article mentioned Tom Benson of the Saints as one guy they believe isn't on the Goodell bandwagon. Amen brother.

OP, where'd you get this table from? Are we talking about YPA here? Is "cold" defined as 45 degrees or some other temperature? Was it an article? I'd be interested in seeing the narrative and context as well as seeing how the rest of the league matches up, particularly other cold weather teams like the Bears, Bills, and Browns. This is pretty fascinating stuff as well. I'd argue YPA (if that's what the above table represented) and fumble ratio are the two most important factors in the success of an offense.

He left his pregnant girlfriend for a supermodel. He's not a choirboy (or the tired, cliched "role model"), he's a football player. Enough said.

To play devil's advocate here, when owner's pushed the idea of draft slotting to stop the insane year to year increases for first round draft picks, the players agreed under the premise that the money saved would go to veterans. However, I'd argue it hasn't really played out that way - it appears that most of that money (or at least higher percentages of team salary caps) are now going to quarterbacks. Flacco opened the floodgates, and after him players like Brees, Cutler, Romo and Ryan all got contracts in the ~ $20 million range. This has brought downward pressure on all other roster spots for teams with elite QBs (or at least teams that are paying their QBs elite money). This also means teams don't have the same versatility at signing their own premium guys at other positions that they may have had in the not so distant past (when elite QBs commanded $10-12 M). This in turn allows teams that aren't paying elite money for QBs to assign a higher portion of the cap to non-QB guys. While guys like Kaepernick and Dalton have provided a new avenue for teams to get their QBs on the team friendly, pay-as-you-go, cut-anytime contracts, I'm not so sure that scenario is here to stay for the next class of QBs. In my opinion, while it's ultimately up to the players, there's no way agents and the NFLPA allow Wilson or Luck to take anything less than market rate, which in their cases may be the two highest paid QB contracts of all time. There's just way too much precedent at stake here for the NFLPA to push these guys on this point, but De Smith never ceases to amaze me on his lack of interest on advocating on the players behalf. Either way, it just shows how important it is to get your franchise guy put a team around him that can peak in his 3rd or 4th year when he's still making peanuts, a la Russell Wilson. Or somehow get your guy like Tom Brady to take less money in return for future flexibility.

Tell it to these folks http://deadspin.com/lets-laugh-at-these-poor-seahawks-fans-who-left-the-gam-1680308850

Thanks Grandpa.

It's only not an option from the NFL's perspective, not the States. I would assume keeping the Ralph in the discussions is a State bargaining chip. They're showing the public as well as the Pegulas that a brand new downtown stadium will cost quite a bit more, so if the Pegulas would like a new stadium they'd probably have to chip in more. Smart move in my opinion.

Wait a second - is their President really named Garfinkel?!! I immediately thought of Ace Ventura and thought this was an elaborate joke before looking it up myself.