BarleyNY

He would have been very cheap in year 1 for the Bills at about $1.2M, but then about $12M/year for the next 3. So it seems like it would have been a short term play. Two seasons at $6.6M AAV or even three at $8.4M AAV is reasonable if he stayed reasonably healthy. Nothing significant hanging over the team’s head if they had to cut him either.

I do not think Basham was supposed to play much in his rookie season. He did get some time and did okay, especially in the post season. We should be getting a better idea of what we have in him this year.

Sure, but you are still operating under the assumption that Beane is being forthcoming. Two years in a row he said he got the last guy he had a first round grade on. :Eyeroll

Why would anyone take an NFL GM at his word about the draft? Before it, after it, whatever. Every one of them say the same things about all of their picks. It means nothing.

Her personal quote is unintentionally hilarious in context of her Walmart incident.

Maybe we can get a game in Moscow next year Probably goes along with the American Cowboy lore that is popular around the world. Cowboys are likely 3rd for that reason.

I remember reports that Whaley was so angry about having no real role in the draft that he walked out of the War Room mid draft.

While Goodell obviously works for the owners and takes direction on big issues from them, the narrative that dismisses him as little more than a figurehead and errand boy for 32 owners is very exaggerated by NFL fans. He has plenty of responsibility and quite a bit of opportunity to influence and inform the owners. The closest comparison to this situation I can come up with is the negotiation for the 2006 CBA. The owners spent so much time infighting that the league could not properly negotiate with the NFLPA. This resulted in Goodell telling the owners that there was a bad deal on the table, but that - due to them not getting on the same page - they needed to take it. They did, by a 30-2 vote IIRC. The one positive thing for the owners that he got added the agreement was an opt out clause that enabled an early exit. Vote year 2, exit after year 5 IIRC. The owners got their act together and stuck it to the players pretty good on the next deal. So it’s certainly possible that Goodell encountered something similar with owners this time too. But I still contend that it drug out as long as it possibly could have and was managed horribly in the interim. I will give him this though. Once he did move forward, he did a fantastic job of it. It was like a team went 1-16, 2-15, then 15-2 and won the SB performance-wise.

And here I thought he’d have to do things like: - direct research on issues that impact the NFLs bottom line - determine possible courses of action and likely consequences of each course - recommend a plan (or plans) of action - determine contingency plans for above - lead or delegate important courses of action That’s what one would expect of someone in such a position. But apparently just an incredibly well paid figurehead. Crazy.

That can’t have anything to do with him. I just read that he just does what the owners tell him to do after they decide everything. Pretty good gig at almost $50M a year.

You seriously think Goodell’s job is to just be a mouthpiece for the owners after they get done arguing with each other?

How can you be sure of that? It’s difficult for me to believe that 30 owners wanted him to drag his feet for 2 years on the issue. And it’s even more difficult for me to believe that none of the owners would listen to his council on the matter, which is a big part of his job. I am sure that some owners had different personal opinions on the matter and that they wanted him to deal with it in a way that reflected those opinions. But, again, it is his job to manage conflicts like that.. and let’s face it, the overarching goal of NFL owners is to make money. It’s no surprise that the NFL’s stance on the matters at hand changed when public opinion changed. It’s about marketability and profitability. Maybe Goodell didn’t have a lot of great options, but did he really do a job worthy of the $40M-$50M he makes every year?

While I don’t think there is a single decent or likable person in that article, there is one good point. It took Goodell and the NFL waaaay too long to properly address the protests during national anthems. Goodell has a tough job, but he chooses to do it and he gets paid an obscene amount of money for it. The reality is that he performed poorly - or at least egregiously slowly - in that difficult situation.

That’s not true wrt Rousseau. He played the second most defensive snaps of all DEs and third most of all Bills DL. Remember it’s a heavy rotation. GR played about 50% of the snaps. Hughes about 52%. Oliver about 58%. Full list: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2021-snap-counts.htm

Sure. But do you see Mayfield and his agent giving up $18.86M? They could negotiate something else though. For example, they offer to take, say, $10M to get released. Then he could immediately sign with another team. The real wildcard here is how Baker reacts when he has to come in as an afterthought to the team and accept relegation to things like running the scout team. I honestly don’t know if his ego can take that. His motivation to get a deal done will be high. Or maybe he reacts emotionally and does something - like no showing to training camp or refusing to participate in practice once he’s there - that voids his guarantees. In any event, it costs the Browns nothing but a roster spot to keep him around and they might just get something for him and some cap relief by doing so for awhile.

I agree. The best seats in most stadiums are in the first row of the upper deck between the 40s.

The Browns aren’t going to cut Mayfield unless it’s well into the season. If they cut him they would still have to pay him. No reason to do that or give him what he wants - an outright release that would let him chose where to go. At absolute worst why wouldn’t they eat all of his salary except the vet minimum, take a swap of late round picks and trade him to the NFC? The Browns are waiting for a team to either realize they have nothing at QB or see their starter get injured. Then they have some leverage. No need to sell at the bottom of the market.

Just probably avoid it. Plus if it’s in Buffalo my kids work at one that a lot of players frequent. I highly doubt it was there, but want to make sure.

Wow. That sucks. I’d love to know what restaurant.

Yup. No choice now but to hope for that.

Yeah. I don’t get the not tackling thing. He doesn’t shy away from being physical when the WRs are on their routes, but he looks like he went to Deion Sanders’ CB school where he told CBS that not tackling lengthens their careers. Just zero interest in hitting a player with the ball. Two things always worry me about CBs - the ones that have to grab WRs to cover and the ones that avoid tackling. He has shown both. But he also has talent. I guess we have to see what he does now.

I freaking love Letterkenny. That’s exactly what I thought of when I typed that. Im a big Bonnie McMurray fan.

They also have used plays where Tre played man coverage and others were in zone. I think the hope is that they’ll now have a CB2 that can do some of that too. That’ll give them more flexibility in flipping that scheme as needed. Elam seems very likable. He’s toolsy. I watched some game film and he’s certainly got talent. He’s sticky and aggressive in coverage. He does not allow much separation by WRs, he tracks the ball well and fights them for it in the air. He’s got really good speed too. He should be able to run with most NFL WRs. A lack of physicality at the LOS and during routes won’t be the issue. If anything, he’ll have to back off on some of that in the NFL. That brings me to the two main concerns I have with his game. The first is that he’s way too grabby and physical during routes for the NFL. He was especially grabby at the top of routes. The concern there is that he either doesn’t have the ability to flip his hips or the reactions/mirroring ability to stay with WRs when they make their moves and he’s grabbing them at that point to slow them down. The other possibilities are that it was due to his knee injury or that he was just pushing the envelope to get away with what the refs were allowing. He had 7 penalties for it last year. He simply can’t do that in the NFL. The other glaring issue was his reluctance to hit and tackle ball carriers. For as physical as he is with WRs during their routes, he wanted nothing to do with making a tackle - and when he had to, he tried (often unsuccessfully) to arm tackle. He even had several chances to hit ball carriers already being engaged by tacklers to prevent them from gaining extra yardage and simply pulled up and made no contact. It’s difficult to think that was because of his knee. That absolutely has to change. NFL OCs will test him early and often in that regard. So there’s a lot to like about Elam as well as some concerns. He is going to have excellent coaching so no worries there. His abilities give him the potential to be a very good NFL CB. The concerns about his game are the kind that get worked out quickly or derail a career quickly so it shouldn’t take long to know what we’ve got.

To be fair, it has been years since Chappelle has been funny. Still, you just leave and maybe ask for your money back.

He’s doing what winners do. He’s taking responsibility for himself and asking what he could’ve done better. He’s not pointing fingers at others, but that doesn’t mean that it was on him.