WhitewalkerInPhilly

I expect that he'll plead as well, just because it's likely to be a slap on the wrist . It's pretty much a slam dunk that he gave a minor a black eye, but stopping a group of thieves, on your property, in the middle of the night while using force that was not endangering anyone's life or risking serious injury is a pretty mitigating factor. The more I hear, the more Kromer seems sympathetic.

Well it's impressive that you guessed what I was going to say after stopping at the 10th word You're right though, I shouldnt assume that we could all agree on anything. We're like herding cats that way. But seriously, people do get suspended from their jobs (I'm thinking of cops) while undergoing review or an investigation. If Greg Hardy had new charges pop up we'd likely be in favor of that.

I think the link is broken. I agree with the premise though. Murray is a bit more guaranteed for post I've yardage, but he doesnt seem to have the same big play potential. We already have someone like Murray in Freddie and Karlos. Shady is just scary.

Ok, I'm just going to say this: If it wasn't our team, we'd be fully supportive of firing Kromer or suspending him premptively. Because he's not, I want to see how this plays out. He certainly should have some kind of punishment and nowhere does he deny that he hit a minor. It seems like he caught a couple of kids messing with his stuff and lost him temper. The law is specific about that. If the price the league has to pay for punishing the Greg Hardy and Ray Rice offenders properly is that a position coach of ours gets swept up I'll deal with it. But I really, really doubt that anything goes far criminally. You are often allowed to use non-lethal force to stop people from taking your property. Realistically, a first offender on a misdemeanor who takes a plea would pay a fine and get probation/community service. The "I'll kill your family if you talk" does sound like an embellishment a pissed off couple of teenagers would tack on to be taken seriously.

I have a suspicion that, even with a crowded field, he's going to be the starting #2 TE, at least at the start. Simply, Clay is more of an H-back, and I expect him to be doing a lot of blocking on the line and doing leading blocking. Gray being a converted receiver makes me think that he's going to be a receiver in 2 TE sets that Roman has a history of liking.

Ok, I am entirely ok with Sal replacing Joe. The film breakdowns are a nice touch.

To he fair, that's some pretty piss poor analysis but it's what we heard from Schwartz last year. I believe the comment was something along the lines of "The best indicator of a strong pass rush isn't sacks, because that doesn't count rushed passes that fall incomplete. A much better guide is Pressures, because that means you're shrinking the field and consistently beating the O-line."

Pretty much. And I do think Goddell's discipline choices have often been off base (fines for sock choices, coming down incredibly hard on recreational drugs but ignoring assault and domestic violence) but the NFLPA chose to trade limiting Goddell for more money. And for the guys who spend 4 years in the league and keep their noses clean it's easily worth that trade off. But Goddell absolutely has the authority to do what he is doing. Whether that's a good idea or not...that's another discussion.

They are rather good. Cox, Kendricks, Barwin and Kiko are all studs. That said, I would take Hughes, Mario, Kyle and Dareus every day of the week vs those four.

I don't get the "blown holes" thing Schefter is going on about. Two separate independant labs came to a conclusion. That doesn't even count the exhaustive interviews and the text messages.

I don't see how you think it's weak. We have video evidence of the balls being taKen away. You have the equipment managers talking about taking bribes. You have a guy named The Deflator. You have evidence of Brady lying about knowing McNally. You have reassurance after the fact, showing cognizence of guilt. You have the equipment guys getting fired by their own team. You don't need a smoking gun when the level of proof you need is "probably" FWIW, this is an article written by a former investigator. He seems to think the Wells report was well put together and honest:http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2015/5/12/8592785/the-wells-report-as-reviewed-by-a-former-investigator

I agree that neither side wants to go to court, especially now that Brady has gone under oath and could be tried for perjury. But seriously, one game? even if you discount the scientific evidence of the Wells report (I personally will take the findings of two separate independent labs) the circumstancial evidence of guilt is overwhelming. I think you can argue that the penalty is too stiff (previous penalties were fines), but I would give two games, at minimum, for the blatant lying, not cooperating with the investigation and the bitching to the media that we saw.

Can we kill this thread? At this point we're talking about conjecture on an article written weeks ago, and for which there won't be anything new to go on for more than a month.

It would be an extraordinarily Billsy outcome: Brady being able to come back juuuuust in time to play us.

Look, I am all for presumption of innocence before being proven guilty in criminal law. But this ain't criminal law. It's not even civil. It's a rules decision in a game. Not turning over evidence which might incriminate yourself is one thing, when you have to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Stubbornly refusing to when the standard is "He's probably guilty" is less effective.

Nothing like a dose of cold hard reality to temper Tommy boy's sense of entitlement.

I don't understand the Chandler hate. He's a decent TE who can be good when used Correctly. Marrone never could. But I went with Spiller. He's the Reggie Bush mold player that Payton has done a lot with.

That was my point. The league, I'm sure, would have loved to sweep this under the rug, but couldn't be directly involved. The Wells report was independent. It involved an outside party, going to two different labs to test possible claims. Both came up with the same result. It just so happens that when the Patriots hire an outside group, and pay them a lot of money, they say what the Pats want to hear. Even without those lab results, there is more than enough circumstance that makes a coincidence unlikely. You'd never nail anyone on a criminal charges if they had a decent lawyer...but this is not that.

This is perfect.

I agree. I was reading an interview with a sports agent and he mentioned that the greatest threat to the sport is if the fan base feels that it's rigged, like in wrestling. Even if it is, and even if Goddell does play favorites and listens to some owners a lot, if public confidence wavers, people stop watching games.

One, I'm going to rely more on the science of an independent arbiter than an outside group to discredit it. There is something in the scientific community known as Confirmation Bias. Mainly that when you go in with a particular result in mind, you find it. Two, the circumstancial evidence is pretty damning. Remember, the standard of proof here is NOT beyond a reasonable doubt. It is "more likely than not". Three, a good chunk of the penalty was for lying and being uncooperative with the investigation even when extraordinary privacy allowances were made. Four, Goddell handed Wells a blank check. Throwing it out admits that he wasted millions of dollars of league money.

Well, the good news is that there are few, if any, starting D-lines are scary as ours.

I can't be entirely disagree with someone who has a dose of skepticism for trusting the right side a 3 round rookie and the guy who couldn't play his way onto the field before we see contact drills. That said, I am all in. Cyrus was critically mishandled. Miller already looks like a younger, more solid Urbik.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Cassel's upside that he was the accurate veteran? Again, apparently Tyrod was best.

I know...some of the best screen playmakers and nada