HiAndTight

Warriors is not in and of itself offensive to my mind...but people I've heard that suggested and I've heard pushback against it. I guess because it's generally been accompanied by other Native American logo's that have been.

Yeah, I would definitely not describe Brady as mobile. I'm really hoping you're right and Brady falls flat. I'm not one who's going to be upset about him going out like Namath in a Rams Jersey. Just other than maybe the Chargers, he went to a places that's pretty loaded on both sides of the ball. So if they're the same next year, a ~9-7 type team, then it's pretty clear Brady's done.

Actually, there are a lot of very good 30+ year old tackles that leave their original team. Trent Williams is one. Wagner (maybe not as good today, but a similar a few years back). Veldheer is probably a pretty decent comp to Bulaga. He had a few big injuries early in his career, then started having more nagging injuries/performance for his age 30/31 seasons (played 80% and 66% of the snaps). Once you get into that 30+ age nexus, you have to pick and choose carefully whom you keep. It isn't so much about the cost as it is the chance that you pay that much money to someone on the injured list. Really? Trent Williams had to hold out for an entire year before the Redskins finally gave in agreed to let him leave. He's pretty much the perfect example of the exception that proves the rule. The way they tried to get him to come back, despite the disaster of a medical staff that let a cancerous tumor grow on his head for...however long it was. Whatever it was, it's hardly the norm. And Wagner REALLY isn't on Bulaga's level nor is Veldheer, a nice tackle, but he's never been as good as Bulaga has either.

He got it done well enough to be one of the two starters. I think you're really underestimating how debilitating a torn pec is for a LB'er.

I think the only point with Tebow was that McDaniels can with with different styles at QB. I would hope nobody was just comparing the talent of the two QB's. Cam's won an MVP, went 15-1 and went to a SB. Tebow couldn't make it in the league and McDaniels got a 7 game winning streak, 5 late game comebacks and a playoff win with him at QB. And the last time we played game was 2017. That was arguably his best season rushing. Ran for 774 yards...had a strong year. Then the shoulder injuries got worse the next year. It's true though, Cam's never completed a high pct of passes...but you'd think that'd certainly change in New England. He threw the ball down the field as much as just about any QB in the NFL in the Panthers offense.

Cam's injury was to his shoulder, I don't think he's lost any of his athleticism. The biggest issue(aside from the car accident) was a result of him playing through injuries. He sat out all last year. He's 31, I think he'll be fine. As for him not working in NE, Belichek is the master of changing his system to best suit his players and...as you said, McDaniels got the Broncos to the playoffs(where they won a game) with Tebow at QB. I thought he missed 2019 because of a foot or ankle injury? My mistake. Yeah, that Lis Franc injury. That's a significant injury, but most of his injuries have been to that shoulder, his ribs and then the broken bones in his back after that car accident. Last year was really the first time he just sat out and was allowed to fully heal. He plays such a physical style...similar to Luck, but he runs the ball far more often and is used on goal to go situations(or he was). It'll be interesting to see how this year plays out. I wouldn't be surprised if the Pats go 5-11 or if they go 12-4. They won 11 games(though missed the playoffs) with Matt Cassel and a less talented defense, so...we'll see what BB can get out of Cam.

Cam's injury was to his shoulder, I don't think he's lost any of his athleticism. The biggest issue(aside from the car accident) was a result of him playing through injuries. He sat out all last year. He's 31, I think he'll be fine. As for him not working in NE, Belichek is the master of changing his system to best suit his players and...as you said, McDaniels got the Broncos to the playoffs(where they won a game) with Tebow at QB. Exactly. Tebow was the king of the "isn't much of a passers". I expect that Cam (if fully healthy) will keep the Patriots in the firm playoff chase. I kind of expect Brady to crash and burn in Tampa, too. He's got the brains obviously, but he's shot athletically. He's got great weapons down there, but isn't going to have the arm strength to take advantage of them. A lot of people talk about how he didn't have a lot for weapons his last couple years in NE, but he simply couldn't make the throws. I'm not going to venture any guess about Brady in Tampa. He's never been athletic, so that shouldn't be a big deal. And I really can't tell if his arm strength is any different. He's still accurate and I think back to that throw to AB last year on that one TD and that looked pretty good...but of course he looked awful the last 10 games of the season. So I don't know if he'll have a superstar like season and throw for 50 TD's...though I do think his arm has to be at least as strong as Mannings when he went to Denver, but even if he doesn't have the arm to really push it downfield, just having a QB who doesn't turn it over 40 times would seem to have that team in position to make some noise in the NFC. That defense in TB really got on a roll as well. Now you've got Gronk, Howard, Bratte and then arguably the top WR'er combo. I don't know, I've never been impressed watching Brady, but he's always just won. That's tough to bet against. As for Newton...when the Panthers went 15-1, they had an elite defense and he could keep drives alive without many weapons with his legs and then occasionally hit the big play. Hell, Belichick probably still wants Stiham to start and brought in Cam to be a backup. It feels like he just toys with all of us like that. Just watch, it'll be a NE-TB Super Bowl because Brady and BB are too stubborn to let anyone believe the other was responsible for their success.

Cam's injury was to his shoulder, I don't think he's lost any of his athleticism. The biggest issue(aside from the car accident) was a result of him playing through injuries. He sat out all last year. He's 31, I think he'll be fine. As for him not working in NE, Belichek is the master of changing his system to best suit his players and...as you said, McDaniels got the Broncos to the playoffs(where they won a game) with Tebow at QB.

They're supposed to be getting ready to realase season 5. It was initially to be released on May 8th(I think) and due to the whole pandemic, they hadn't quite finished shooting. I got so bored I watched Hot to get away with Murder. It was not a show I was a fan of when I watched one a week, but when you are able to binge them and really get into it, it gets much better.

It'll be really interesting to see what they do with regard to the NFL cap if they do in fact play in empty stadiums like we'd all expect. There will have to be some ammendment so the cap doesn't see the huge drop it normally would based on league revenue.

Well...not exactly how bad it was, but he tore his pec muscle. That takes your technique for shedding tackles and just throws it out the window. The Packers initially thought he'd be lost for the year and I really don't think he ever DID get a the incredible opportunity you're talking about. Again, Adams is different. He was a boom or bust player coming out, he was a guy who had the talented to go a round or even two earlier and he's obviously just not a very hard working guy. I don't see any correlation between he and Burks. The Packers rarely went with a 2nd LB'er and when they did it was because they needed to defend the run. So I think it's unfair to judge Burks one way or the other at this point. And I'd agree, Adams should be gone. Based on things Pettine has said about him, I'm not real confident he'll come back from this quarantine in any type of football shape either...but hey, maybe he knows he's running out of chances and we'll get one Hunt like season out of him(just as long as we don't pay up after that one season).

Bulaga may have started 16 games, but he only played 83.6% of offensive snaps so he missed the equivalent of 2.63 games. Plus, in 2018 he only played 72.7% of snaps and two seasons ago (2017) he missed 11 games and he's on the wrong side of 30. And, like others have said, I think would have been difficult for them to sign Bulaga, Clark, and Bakh. I think your last sentence is correct, but for Nijman, not Light. They added Nijman to the active roster at the end of November, so they think highly of him. I think they want him to get one more year as a backup before trusting him to protect Rodgers, thus the signing of Wagner as a stopgap (while technically a 2-year deal, NFL FA contracts are usually for a year longer than they are intended to be for and I doubt he sees year two). Yeah, I get that he missed time. And when he did, our offense looked entirely different. But again, he signed for a very reasonable price. It's really just a matter of having an older QB, Bulaga still playing at or near an elite level despite missing some time and having a QB entering his late 30's. The impact on the cap will be less now that it looks like the NFL is going to lose revenue...so that ~30-40 million dollar jump that was projected is going to seriously be dampened, but if you're trying to win now...that's the move of the off-season I don't get and I won't get. You really think Love is great, ok, you have to get him. But you let one of the best pass blocking tackles in the NFL walk, you don't spend that money on WR'ers and then you pick Love? If Rodgers gets beat up this year, Gute's going to be under a helluva lot more fire than he is even now. Teams seldom let tackles like that leave.

Yeah, you're definitely right about Jenkins. That was a head scratcher for me at the time. Picking a Center with the 44th pick...but he looked like a future All Pro in his rookie year. And if you're talking about the best OL regardless of position value, you may be right. Doubtful he ends up as valuable as Clifton, Bulaga or Bahk, but he was a stud as a rookie and no reason to think that won't continue.

Yeah, but just because he was back and could get on the field doesn't mean he was anywhere near 100 pct. You tear a pec...I don't even know how you can possibly play LB'er. Taking on a blocker become next to impossible. But we'll see. I'm not even saying he's talented. I don't know that. I've seen Adams and I KNOW he's talented and I'm pretty sure he's just lazy. But Burks fought hard to come back early last year and I haven't heard any knocks against his worth ethic or anything about him other than he might be a little small to play LB'er and that was out of school.

Lazard and MVS seem obvious. I'm still riding with Tonyan though. I think this might be his last year to get a chance to put it all together, but I like him and he seems to have really good body control and a nice catching radius. He's a very solid blocker, so he's not a Graham type receiver, but he's very athletic. As for Bulaga, he started all 16 last year. Yeah, he left some early, but he is a pretty damn good tackle. And with the massive jump the Cap is expected to see next year or at least was at the time of that signing, I just believe he signed for too cheap for the Packers to save ~5 million the next couple years for a far, far worse player. But maybe they really think someone like Light or Yosh are closer than we think to being ready.

Yeah...but Giannis wasn't really outspoken about it. Kidd talked to Giannis after he was told he was going to be fired, but before it actually happened and HE'S the one who told everyone how Giannis was willing to go to the front office over it.

I think that's being a little hard on Burks. He had a torn pec last year. I wouldn't put him in the same group as Adams. Burks came in two years ago as a Safety-LB'er hybrid, then was penciled into the starting lineup last year and had a serious injury. And I'd agree, Williams likely wouldn't have played as well this year. But even a regression would likely still mean he's one of our 3 best CB's. I also can't see him getting more than...3-4 million. So I'm still hoping he comes back.

Again...hard to argue with much of this. Wagner and Turner on the right side could create all kinda of problems vs a team like the Bears for example with Mack and Hicks on one side. I know it's not the point of this thread, but Bulaga signed for such a reasonable contract, with an aging Rodgers, I just don't get not only NOT signing him, but then not using the money you didn't spend there on something else to help Rodgers. Particularly after all the reports about Gute wanting to add TWO premier pass catchers with Hooper being one. But if they bring Veldheer back, I think he could start for us and is probably a better tackle than Wagner and we've got a young future All Pro IMO in Jenkins. Plus Turner and Wagner are both better run blocking. Also a big fan of Nijman, but most scouts that liked his upside thought he'd need a couple years learning. Definitely a good enough athlete though. For this offense to get substantially better this year, you're going to need the backs to all contribute and then you're going to need at least ONE of the talented long shots in MVS, EST or Robert Tonyan to FINALLY step up and reach their potential. Year 2 in this system has been great for Shanahan in ATL and SF and and in LA with the Golden Boy and Geoff, and we have a pissed off Rodgers, so hopefully he can have a bit of a bounce back season...which I get is a funny thing to say coming off a 13 win year, but Rodgers wasn't as sharp and missed a lot of open throws. Like with the defense, I'm still hoping they can bring someone else in. Even a Kenny Stills who has a good chance to get cut in Houston could help. I always try to be optimistic, but this looks like an 8-9 win team talent wise to me unless just about everything goes right and all the guys we're hoping break out...in fact break out. But what the hell, Deguara's scouting report coming out of school was nearly identical to that of George Kittle's, so maybe he'll bust onto the scene with a 1200 yard season this year and become a dominant blocker, right???

I think a couple guys could and will make decent jumps this year provided they're healthy. One being Raven Greene. He looked VERY good in his role in what was a very small sample size last year, but he was a guy who kinda remade his body and came back much bigger. I think he gives you a really nice in the box backer. And I think when he's not on the field as the 2nd LB'er, it's more likely to be Oren Burks. I'll be honest, I haven't seen anything out of him, but I keep hearing good things. Though...the same could have been said for Adams. Sullivan looks like he's on the verge of kinda breaking out, but you're right. Tramon was our most reliable CB last year. I'd feel a lot better if they brought him back again. Pretty sure he's still a FA. Plus...3 years in and King has had one solid year where he was up and down and 2 years he did very little due to injury. So we could very easily see Sullivan playing in place of him. Ideally though, Jaire kicks down to the slot when we're in the nickel and the two longer corners can hold up outside. And they absolutely HAVE to sign someone to help vs the run and I still think they will. From our 1st rounders last year, I think Savage had the type of rookie year that gives you a lot of confidence he'll make that jump you're talking about. With Gary...who knows. Not spending the off-season with the team will probably hurt him, but I thought he looked good in short spurts last year. Hopefully he'll pick up some of the Smiths slack. 5 guys on this defense COULD become Pro-Bowl caliber players. The Two Smiths, Clark obviously and then Savage and Jaire. The later two need to be reliable. This unit was really healthy last year and forced a lot of turnovers...something that generally doesn't translate that well from year to year. So if we're going to be better, it'll take a repeat of good health and most of the things you said coming to fruition.

Actually, the nasal one wasn't bad at all. No pain, just tickled. Seriously, it tickled. You got lucky. It felt like they were "tickling" the top of my skull.

They are also a team that doesn't hesitate to trade picks for players. They had a 1st rounder heading into this draft and then I believe they didn't pick again until the 6th round prior to their trade with the Colts. If Garappolo doesn't produce like they expect in the next year or two and the Packers DO make Rodgers available, I don't think they'd have much hesitation to make a move. But go back 2 years and imagine talking about Brady ending up in Tampa? People would have thought that was a ridiculous idea. Tampa...much like SF, has used early 1st round picks to build a very talented roster. How about the Chargers? 2 years from now, maybe Herbert has looked awful, they've still got a ton of talent up and down the roster and need just a QB. Hell, maybe the Browns will make sense. It's next to impossible to project where these teams will be in a year or 3 from now.

It's possible this could happen, but I'm having a hard time picturing it simply because of all of the signing bonuses and guaranteed money that's been given out the last couple of years. With signing bonuses you can't just cut those high priced guys because of the cap hit, and roster bonuses were paid back on 3/20; actual cash salary per year has shrunk in lieu of signing bonuses and roster bonuses. Even with post-June 1st cuts you'd have huge cap hits carrying over to 2021. And then there's the issue of the 89% minimum spend per team, which I'm sure the union will have something to say about slashing the cap. If they had to get down to that level, teams would have to cut so many good players and then it would be a free-for-all to try to sign as many guys as you could for league minimum, if they would even sign - many of the really good players might sit out a year feeling like the injury risk isn't worth playing for league minimum or greatly reduced salary. Quality of play - with so many good players cut and/or moving to different teams and/or sitting out - would suffer horribly. It would be a terrible on-field product. I think the NFL would look to obtain some type of financing first before taking on that magnitude of salary cap cut simply because a drop of that much would have so many negative consequences. To give each team $60M would require financing of just under $2B; the league took in almost $9B in national revenue last year, so they could easily get financing for that especially with interest rates so low. Then just drop future caps by whatever the repayment is each year (say, $10M/year/team for seven years accounting for interest). The Packers are sitting on something like $300M in cash, so they could be a beneficiary if it did happen and choose to lose money for a year without taking a big financial hit and/or cutting good players. I'm sure they'll figure something out so teams are able to fill their rosters and the best players aren't left taking massive paycuts. My point is that it's impossible to guess what the cap is going to look like in the immediate future or the years to come based on the unknown right now.

Nobody's talking about the humanity of it or any such nonsense. We're talking about what the ACTUAL impact on the salary cap could be moving forward. A factual discussion of what COULD happen and how that COULD impact the NFL in the future. Nobody ever presented it as a "oh, the poor NFL."

Again, there's ALWAYS the caveat that these guys just change their minds. They get older and they can't be held to what they felt a year or two or more earlier. BUT....everything Giannis has said was that he wanted to be like Dirk, Bird, Kobe, guys who played their entire career in one place and won Chips for that one team. And as long as the Bucks are a competitive team, he'll stick around. So if the Bucks can win one with him either this year or next, that would seem to work in his favor.

What site are you looking at? The NFL salary cap is as up in the air right now just as revenue is in question for all major sports. If the NFL doesn't have fans in the stadium, I've seen speculation the cap could drop 75 million, even 100 million. Before Covid the cap was expected to make a much larger jump to 240 or 250 in 2021. So it's next to impossible to have an exact number for what the cap is going to be right now. Either way, Rodgers is going to make up a disproportionately high pct of it. The debate isn't about what the top paid QB's in the NFL are making, the debate is about how likely teams are to be able to pay a QB 12+ pct of the cap...1 of the 54 players on the roster and still win a SB. Mahomes is a particularly unique talent, as Rodgers was. And if he goes on to win multiple SB's once he's making 40+ million a year, the equation will change. And this allowed the Patriots to spend money elsewhere. And when he was in the rookie years of his contract...again, the team was able to spend money elsewhere. They'd be able to sign an impact defender like Clowney for example if he was making less. These high cap hits can work obviously if everything is going right. You mentioned Matt Ryan. He was the MVP that year, you had a couple of RB's on cheap contracts, they had a deep WR'er core that hadn't all gotten paid and they were a couple years into Shanahan's offense. And of course they still didn't win. And they dropped off immediately after and haven't been a contender since. Of course it's possible to win with a QB who is the highest paid in the league...it's just going to be tougher and tougher, especially as we have to extend Clark, Bahktiari, Jones and any free agents. And if we're going to win, Rodgers will have to play at a higher level than he has in the past couple seasons. Something that becomes increasingly unlikely in his later 30's...though obviously not impossible.