Doc Brown

Ironically it was Mark Andrews that caught the discrepancy.

One of his last points stood out to me where he basically compared Trump's followers to flat earthers in his point about the media shouldn't treat everything as a 50/50 debate. I just hate the arrogance of Costas and many like him. It's why Trump for all his massive flaws is better able to read a room (or a country in his case) than any other politician in my lifetime.

Without looking at any of the responses that would easily sway me. I'm not counting the last game so it's how many we'd win out of 16. 1.) We'd win 8 without Josh Allen 2.) We'd win 11 without James Cook (Lions and home Pats game) which goes against every anti pay Cook I made this off-season. 3.) We'd win 10 without both tackles. That would definitely hurt the worst besides Allen. 4.) We'd win 13 without Ed Oliver. Wouldn't be as big of a Buffalo blow out in some games though. 5.) We'd win 12 without Rousseau. Arizona game. 6.) We'd win 14 without Ferguson as much as I like him. The Rams punt block cost us that game.

Damn. I forgot about Midnight Run. Excellent choice. There's just so many good damn movies to consolidate it to 5.

Poor attempt at a joke with four super serious critically acclaimed movies and then Dude Where's My Car. My real list does of course include BTTF and four other random movies that I thought were well done and just kind of stuck with me over the years. Honorable mentions would be Inglourious Basterds, Before Sunset, and Fargo. Gangs of New York if done correctly could've been right up there as it painted an interesting time in US History that not many films have touched. It was just too scattered and Daniel Day Louis was the only stand out actor with Dicaprio (who I usually like) and Diaz as miscast. Back to the Future Prisoners What's Eating Gilbert Grape About Schmidt Notorious

Passion of the Christ 12 Years a Slave All Quiet on The Western Front Schindler's List Dude Where's My Car

Winning points with the fans to put more public pressure on Beane. Next level stuff. In all seriousness, wherever you stand on Cook you have to at least give him credit for showing up and participating when a lot of unhappy players contract wise around the league didn't.

Dude couldn't even get a wall built and people are worried about that?

It's been predicted my whole life. Just remember. The 2026 midterms will be the most important vote of our lives.

So, he fumbles a lot then? I kid. The pay matters isn't for the unimaginative weak. I'm not going to pay Bass $6m a year like he's Harrison Butker. Geez. As far as mini camp drama sequels go this is like Speed 2 compared to Diggs two years ago.

Now all we need to do is trade for Cobe Bryant.

We'd always just restructure Allen's deal and I figured the Bengals would do the same thing with Burrow. They didn't. They did the right thing in re-signing two guys at premium positions coming off their rookie contracts. That's really good business. It's just the contract structure on Burrow, Higgins, and Chase's deals are unusual. They're not back loaded at all. Chase in particular actually will count more against the cap this year than he would've on his 5th year option. That's crazy for a team shooting for the Super Bowl. If they don't nail their draft picks of doing business this way they're screwed. No it isn't. They could sign all three and still put out a Super Bowl contending roster if their draft picks hit. They'd have to be willing to re-structure those deals though and Brown's too cheap for that.

I don't think they've been horribly underpaid as much as having to wait three years on your rookie deal to get an extension sucks for RB's because of the shorter shelf life compared to other positions. Look at Isiah Pacheco. His contract is 4 years $3.7m dollars because he was drafted in the 7th round. Last off-season he could've gotten a pretty good contract after two years of solid production. He gets injured his third year and isn't the same. Now he's going into his final year of his contract and has to produce or he won't get much in free agency.

It's cheaper but usually a disaster extending a RB before the last year of his rookie contract (Gurley, Dalvin Cook, David Johnson, Zeek, Chubb). I'm having a hard time where one did work out off the top of my head at least within the last six to eight years. McCaffrey you could argue was the best contract extension on his rookie deal but it was only a good deal for the 49ers (not the Panthers). Edit: I forgot about Derrick Henry. Well worth the money for the Titans.

I wouldn't but I understand why some would. I believe the last first round RB who led their team in rushing yards to win a Super Bowl with their original team was Adaii in the '06 season. I know correlation doesn't equal causation but you just lose the value of having a guy on a rookie contract at a premium position if you draft a RB in the first round.

Good information. Thanks. The Bengals have more of a cash issue that creates the cap issue. Restructuring contracts to push the cap hit down the road means be more willing to have cash in hand to pay now. Mike Brown is cheap and this idea that Joe Burrow has changed the way the Bengals do business is a myth.

You're shifting the goal posts. You talked about roster construction and salary allocation in general and are now trying to apply it only to the Bengals as I pointed out the Eagles constructed their roster that way.

Yeah. Their drafts have sucked. You making the argument that a team has "zero chance" of making the Super Bowl if they pay two elite WR's near top of the market contracts doesn't hold water though. I think the score was 40-22? That's the Bengals biggest problem. Ask Carson Palmer.

All their chips? The Eagles just literally won the Super Bowl paying their two WR's and QB near top of the market money. Don't tell me it can't be done.

I don't know if Beane sees it that way though. A surprising amount of GM's around the league don't. I keep hearing he never gives RB's second contracts but the only two pieces of evidence are Singletary or Moss who are just JAG's. He was in on trading for McCaffrey (who also happened to be the 1st round pick the last year he was with the Panthers) and has even said that he'd consider drafting a RB in the 1st round. If he thinks that way why even have an analytic staff? I'd rather draft a RB that at minimum gives me 85% of what Cook gives me for a fifth of the price.

No it wasn't. Most teams should at least be able to pay two guys at premium positions near top of the market money even with your QB getting elite money. I think the Eagles just did. Outside WR is a premium position. It's on the Bengals now to nail the draft and find value free agents.

He'd lose $5m if he doesn't play. It might be worth it if he played at a premium position with a longer shelf life. I don't think he'd ever make that $5m back in a second contract. I'd be very hesitant as a GM to sign an almost 27 year old RB who played less than half the snaps two seasons ago to a top of the market deal.

No doubt the most expensive way of acquiring a player is trading draft assets and then having to play that player top of the market value. The fact that the Bills didn't draft his replacement in this year's draft made me think Beane would either give him a new contract extension or let him play out his fourth year. Maybe he was offered something for Cook before the draft but it wasn't anything higher than a day three pick. I really wouldn't know what to do if I was Cook. I think I'm playing this season no matter what. On one hand I know that if it's best case scenario in the 2025 season like you laid out then his contract would be even bigger if signed next year with the salary cap going up. However, you also face the risk of injury or declined production if our offensive line isn't magically healthy throughout the year like they were the last two. At his age I pry would bet on myself. As his agent I would advise him to get an extension with $25m or so in guaranteed money. You're set financially for life.

It's not that different than what Benford, Groot, Shakir, Oliver, Knox, T. Johnson, and Bernard had to weigh. Do you bet on yourself for a year or take the sure thing right now? He's not going to hold out Le'Veon Bell style because every GM in the league sees how that contract went for the Jets.

Chubb's done. Cleveland fans adore the guy and the Browns would've brought him back if he wasn't washed after those injuries.