JosephC

I saw that too. Tom Pelissero is reporting that the Bengals are likely to franchise Tee Higgins.

The media really blows it when discussing this issue. To illustrate the problem, they shouldn't be talking about how much money the Dodgers are spending on players, they should be pointing out how much money the Dodgers are throwing away based on the size of their payroll. Currently Cots has the Dodgers 2025 luxury tax payment as $152,869,222. Current projected 2025 opening day payrolls (with almost all of the noteworthy free agents already signed)- 1. Seattle Mariners - 152.3 million 2. Minnesota Twins - 149.6 million 3. St. Louis Cardinals - 146.7 million 4. Detroit Tigers - 145.7 million 5. Kansas City Royals - 128.3 million 6. Colorado Rockies - 126.1 million 7. Cincinnati Reds - 114.7 million 8. Milwaukee Brewers - 108.2 million 9. Washington Nationals - 107.8 million 10. Cleveland Indians - 99.7 million 11. Pittsburgh Pirates - 85.4 million 12. Tampa Bay Rays - 81.7 million 13. A's - 76.8 million 14. Chicago White Sox - 74.4 million 15. Miami Marlins - 69.4 million It's not just a handful a cheap owners anymore. The Dodgers luxury tax payment could be more than the payroll for half the teams in the league.

So Jose Iglesias is a completely different type of hitter than DeJong, but could he fill a similar role if he came to Milwaukee. Basically he was out of baseball for a year and a half, but since the 2019 season he has a slash line of .302/.340/.417/.756 in 1419 plate appearances. .337/.381/.448/.830 last year with the Mets (291 plate appearances), He is now a minus defender at short...probably would be about average as a 2B...but played 130 innings at third base in 2024 and was +4 DRS and +2.8 UZR/150. Brings very little pop to the plate, but has the .340 OBP in his last 1400+ at bats. Stearns already signed his replacement and has said that Iglesias will not be back with the Mets. Also credible reports that Iglesias is only looking for a 1 year deal. He's probably looking as the same 1 year, 1 million dollar type deal that DeJong got...and at face value it seems like he might be a pretty decent addition.

I thought DeJong was the best option left on the free agent market. He's probably a negative WAR player going forward as a shortstop. Bounce Ortiz to short and let DeJong be a full-time 3B. He was a 1.7 fWAR player last year and that is with 70% of his innings at SS where the advanced stats were bad (-9 DRS, -9.1 UZR/150). Third base numbers in 2024 were +1 DRS, +10.6 UZR/150. Projection services have him about a 0.6 WAR player for next year, but I think as a full-time third baseman he has a better chance of avoiding injury and the defensive should be much, much better...I think a 1.5-2.0 WAR season is not an unreasonable projection if he's put at third base. At that point, you just have to worry about the OBP because historically that has not been good, just counting on there being enough home runs to make up for it.

Round Six- 179. Drew Kendall/C/Boston College 180. Luke Kandra/OG/Cincinnati 181. Jaylin Lane/WR/Virginia Tech 182. Tyler Baron/EDGE/Miami, Fl 183. Nick Martin/LB/Oklahoma State 184. Kobe Hudson/WR/Central Florida 185. Shemar James/LB/Florida 186. Alijah Huzzie/CB/North Carolina 187. Jaylin Smith/CB/Southern Cal 188. Simeon Barrow Jr./DT/Miami, Fl 189. Ulysses Bentley IV/RB/Mississippi list ends there 189 players, not one Badger.

Round Five- 140. DJ Giddens/RB/Kansas State 141. Jackson Hawes/TE/Georgia Tech 142. Tyler Shough/QB/Louisville 143. Quincy Riley/CB/Louisville 144. Miles Frazier/OG/Louisiana State 145. Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins/DT/Georgia 146. Warren Brinson/DT/Georgia 147. JJ Pegues/DT/Mississippi 148. Ollie Gordon II/RB/Oklahoma State 149. Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson/OT/Florida 150. Elijah Roberts/EDGE/Southern Methodist 151. Chase Lundt/OT/Connecticut 152. Dorian Strong/CB/Virginia Tech 153. Tommi Hill/CB/Nebraska 154. Denzel Burke/CB/Ohio State 155. Kobe King/LB/Penn State 156. Trevor Etienne/RB/Georgia 157. Willie Lampkin/OG/North Carolina 158. Bradyn Swinson/EDGE/Louisiana State 159, Ahmed Hassanein/EDGE/Boise State 160. Jack Kiser/LB/Notre Dame 161. Woody Marks/RB/Southern Cal 162. Antwaun Powell-Ryland/EDGE/Virginia Tech 163. Zy Alexander/CB/Louisiana State 164. Kalel Mullings/RB/Michigan 165. Oronde Gadsden II/TE/Syracuse 166. Brashard Smith/RB/Southern Methodist 167. Rylie Mills/DT/Notre Dame 168. Jaydon Blue/RB/Texas 169. Jacory Croskey-Merritt/RB/Arizona 170. Aeneas Peebles/DT/Virginia Tech 171. Eugene Asante/LB/Auburn 172. Tyler Batty/EDGE/Brigham Young 173. Howard Cross III/DT/Notre Dame 174. Benjamin Yurosek/TE/Georgia 175. Pat Bryant/WR/Illinois 176. Jarquez Hunter/RB/Auburn 177. Mac McWilliams/CB/Central Florida 178. CJ West/DT/Indiana

Round Four- 102. Charles Grant/OT/William & Mary 103. Chris Paul Jr./LB/Mississippi 104. Joshua Farmer/DT/Florida State 105. Jacob Parrish/CB/Kansas State 106. Barryn Sorrell/EDGE/Texas 107. Cobee Bryant/CB/Kansas 108. Jared Wilson/C/Georgia 109. RJ Harvey/RB/Central Florida 110. Bhayshul Tuten/RB/Virginia Tech 111. Will Howard/QB/Ohio State 112. Cam Jackson/DT/Florida 113. David Walker/EDGE/Central Arkansas 114. Jordan Phillips/DT/Maryland 115. Ty Robinson/DT/Nebraska 116. Jordan James/RB/Oregon 117. Damien Martinez/RB/Miami, Fl 118. Jalen Rivers/OT/Miami, Fl 119. Mitchell Evans/TE/Notre Dame 120. Devin Neal/RB/Kansas 121. Ty Hamilton/DT/Ohio State 122. Danny Stutsman/LB/Oklahoma 123. Dominic Lovett/WR/Georgia 124. Oluwafemi Oladejo/EDGE/UCLA 125. Tory Horton/WR/Colorado State 126. Kaimon Rucker/EDGE/North Carolina 127. Riley Leonard/QB/Notre Dame 128. Que Robinson/EDGE/Alabama 129. Jake Briningstool/TE/Clemson 130. Nohl Williams/CB/California 131. Joshua Gray/OG/Oregon State 132. Mello Dotson/CB/Kansas 133. Kyle Williams/WR/Washington State 134. Thomas Fidone II/TE/Nebraska 135. Jonas Sanker/S/Virginia 136. Jamaree Caldwell/DT/Oregon 137. Billy Bowman Jr./S/Oklahoma 138. Terrance Ferguson/TE/Oregon 139. Elijhah Badger/WR/Florida

Round Three- 65. Marcus Mbow/OG/Purdue 66. Isaiah Bond/WR/Texas 67. Jayden Higgins/WR/Iowa State 68. Deone Walker/DT/Kentucky 69. Omarr Norman-Lott/DT/Tennessee 70. Darien Porter/CB/Iowa State 71. Wyatt Milum/OT/West Virginia 72. Elic Ayomanor/WR/Stanford 73. Jaxson Dart/QB/Mississippi 74. Gunnar Helm/TE/Texas 75. Elijah Arroyo/TE/Miami, Fl 76. Jonah Savaiinaea/OT/Arizona 77. Ozzy Trapilo/OT/Boston College 78. Harold Fannin Jr./TE/Bowling Green 79. Kevin Winston Jr./S/Penn State 80. Jalen Milroe/QB/Alabama 81. Kyle Kennard/EDGE/South Carolina 82. Xavier Restrepo/WR/Miami, Fl 83. Tez Johnson/WR/Oregon 84. Lathan Ransom/S/Ohio State 85. Cam Skattebo/RB/Arizona State 86. Savion Williams/WR/Texas Christian 87. Andre Mukuba/S/Texas 88. Emery Jones Jr./OT/Louisiana State 89. Anthony Belton/OT/North Carolina State 90. Jared Ivey/EDGE/Mississippi 91. Darius Alexander/DT/Toledo 92. Barrett Carter/LB/Clemson 93. Sai'vion Jones/EDGE/Louisiana State 94. Jaylin Noel/WR/Iowa State 95. Ashton Gillotte/EDGE/Louisville 96. Sebastain Castro/S/Iowa 97. Shemar Turner/DT/Texas A&M 98. Dillon Gabriel/QB/Oregon 99. Smael Mondon Jr./LB/Georgia 100. Quinn Ewers/QB/Texas 101. Jeffrey Bassa/LB/Oregon

Round Two- 33. Jack Sawyer/EDGE/Ohio State 34. Derrick Harmon/DT/Oregon 35. Nick Emmanwori/S/South Carolina 36. Donovan Jackson/OG/Ohio State 37. Tyleik Williams/DT/Ohio State 38. Omarion Hampton/RB/North Carolina 39. Benjamin Morrison/CB/Notre Dame 40. Princely Umanmielen/DE/Mississippi 41. Grey Zabel/OT/North Dakota State 42. Xavier Watts/S/Notre Dame 43. JT Tuimoloau/EDGE/Ohio State 44. Carson Schwesigner/LB/UCLA 45. Jack Bech/WR/Texas Christian 46. Landon Jackson/EDGE/Arkansas 47. Azareye'h Thomas/CB/Florida State 48. Aireontae Ersery/OT/Minnesota 49. Mason Taylor/TE/Louisiana State 50. TreVeyon Henderson/RB/Ohio State 51. Trey Amos/CB/Mississippi 52. T.J. Sanders/DT/South Carolina 53. Alfred Collins/DT/Texas 54. Quinshon Judkins/RB/Ohio State 55. Kaleb Johnson/RB/Iowa 56. Dylan Sampson/RB/Tennessee 57. Josaiah Stewart/EDGE/Michigan 58. Tre Harris/WR/Mississippi 59. Demetrius Knight Jr./LB/South Carolina 60. Maxwell Hairston/CB/Kentucky 61. Jordan Burch/EDGE/Oregon 62. Jalen Royals/WR/Utah State 63. Tate Ratledge/OG/Georgia 64. Cameron Williams/OT/Texas

I just did a compilation of various top prospect lists, all updated in February following the Senior Bowl. Lists include Dane Brugler at The Athletic (top 100), Daniel Jeremiah at NFL.com (top 50), Trevor Sikkema at Pro Football Focus (top 150), Vinnie Iyer at The Sporting News (top 100), Chris Trapasso at CBS (top 50), Ourlads (top 35) and Lance Zierlein at NFL.com (combine ratings, top 146). 1 point for the player at the bottom of the list and then add 1 for each spot above (so for a list of 100, top player gets 100 points). I'm going to type this out without proofreading (because I am lazy), so you will have to forgive the typos. Round One- 1. Travis Hunter/CB/Colorado 2. Abdul Carter/EDGE/Penn State 3. Mason Graham/DT/Michigan 4. Ashton Jeanty/RB/Boise State 5. Will Campbell/OT/Louisiana State 6. Tyler Warren/TE/Penn State 7. Tetairoa McMillan/WR/Arizona 8. Will Johnson/CB/Michigan 9. James Pearce Jr./EDGE/Tennessee 10. Cam Ward/QB/Miami, Fl 11. Luther Burden III/WR/Missouri 12. Mykel Williams/EDGE/Georgia 13. Walter Nolan/DT/Mississippi 14. Kelvin Banks Jr./OT/Texas 15. Malaki Starks/S/Georgia 16. Mike Green/EDGE/Marshall 17. Josh Simmons/OT/Ohio State 18. Colson Loveland/TE/Michigan 19. Armand Membou/OT/Missouri 20. Shemar Stewart/EDGE/Texas A&M 21. Emeka Egbuka/WR/Ohio State 22. Matthew Golden/WR/Texas 23. Tyler Booker/OG/Alabama 24. Jalon Walker/LB/Georgia 25. Shedeur Sanders/QB/Colorado 26. Kenneth Grant/DT/Michigan 27. Nic Scourton/EDGE/Texas A&M 28. Jihaad Campbell/LB/Alabama 29. Josh Conerly Jr./OT/Oregon 30. Jahdae Barron/CB/Texas 31. Shavon Revel Jr./CB/East Carolina 32. Donovan Ezeiruaku/EDGE/Boston College

It all depends on the money. I don't think Rodgers would come back for anything less than 25 million guaranteed. I would kind of suspect something like this- 3 years, 90 million, 35 million guaranteed 25 million signing bonus 2026 = 2 million base salary (guaranteed), 2026 cap number = 10.33 million 2027 = 15 million base salary (8 million of this is guaranteed), 10 million roster bonus payable mid March, 2027 cap number = 33.33 million 2028 = 28 million base salary, , 10 million roster bonus payable mid March, 2028 cap number = 46.33 million I could see that working for both side. 2028 won't happen. Rodgers looks at it as a 1 year, 27 million dollar deal or a 2 year, 52 million dollar deal...good enough money for him to keep playing. If he's bust, the signing team gets him at an attractive 10.33 million cap number for 2026 and then are responsible for another 24.667 million that they could spread out over 2027 and 2028, hardly a crippling cap hit considering overthecap is projecting the 2027 cap to be 314 million.

I think it could be down to just 2 options for Rodgers. I'm guessing the Titans and Giants end up drafting Ward and Sanders, so they are out. The Browns and Seahawks have cap issues that prevent Rodgers ending up with either of them. He is obviously not going back to the Jets. That leaves the Raiders and Steelers. I thought the Raiders because they have so much more cap space to throw so much more money at him (and at this point, I think Rodgers will take the money over winning). But it would actually be pretty easy to structure a deal that would guarantee him 35 million that would only have a first year cap number of 11-12 million dollars...I don't think the contract is limiting factor for the Steelers at all. I'd guess the Raiders. As much as they will probably want to trade the mansion for Ward or Sanders, I think they fall short and end up with Rodgers.

Asked a football nut at work today about Stewart and he described him as a prototypical 5-technique defensive end. Not super agile but has good play strength and can really run for a big guy. Does not give up on plays and, from what he's seen, seems like a good effort guy. He projected Stewart as a guy who should be plus-plus against the run but does not figure to be much of an edge rusher. Should still rack up some sacks here and there. I kind of get the impression of a poor man's Vonnie Holliday. I looked at some highlights on YouTube, generally don't draw too many conclusions from that because it's only highlights. But the thing that struck me is that he looks more around 270 when just eye-balling him. If he's really been playing at 290, he's really put together well because he sure doesn't look it. Admittedly, I just don't watch enough football to give a good opinion. Stewart sounds like a player who would be a great round one pick with the way they played 20 years ago. But if a team is in nickel/dime and anticipating pass 70% of the time, is this really a guy you want. Sound like his pass rush skills would need an upgrade to make him worth a first rounder. But you never know, if he plays as a 3-technique on passing downs, he might end up being a pretty good pass rusher from there.

Bunch of mocks posted at NFL.com- Chad Reuter Round one = Mykel Williams/DE/Georgia Round two = Shavon Revel Jr/CB/East Carolina Round three = Omarr Norman-Lott/DT/Tennessee Cynthia Frelund Round one = Walter Nolan/DT/Mississippi Lance Zierlein Round one = Shemar Stewart/DE/Texas A&M Eric Edholm Round one = Josh Simmons/OT/Ohio State Bucky Brooks Round one = Jahdae Barron/CB/Texas Daniel Jeremiah Round one = Shemar Stewart/DE/Texas A&M

You are correct. Sorry about that. Eric Stokes AV in 2024 = 3 Quay Walker AV in 2024 = 6 Devonte Wyatt AV in 2024 = 2 Lukas Van Ness AV in 2024 = 2 Jordan Morgan AV in 2024 = 1 Myles Garrett AV in 2024 = 17

Only the lord knows why with the way most of these teams draft. I have to assume that Gutekunst is better than most, considering the Packers record in 2024 was well above the league average. Also, I'm not saying Pro Football Reference's AV value is the definitive measure of value, as I am skeptical as to some of those numbers myself (especially when comparing position to position). But considering- Eric Stokes AV in 2024 = 3 Quay Walker AV in 2024 = 6 Lukas Van Ness AV in 2024 = 2 Jordan Morgan AV in 2024 = 1 Myles Garrett AV in 2024 = 17 And ignoring those numbers....if you ask a 100 Packer fans what they would have....4 years of Stokes + 4 years of Walker + 4 years of Van Ness + 4 years of Morgan....OR....4 years of Myles Garrett....I think probably 98 out of 100 take Garrett...with the 2 "other" votes being 2 draftniks who were all hot to get Jordan Morgan and still believe he will be the second coming of Anthony Munoz (in other words, a minimum of 2% of any fanbase is going to have a screw loose, and the Packer fanbase is no exception).

Here is a link to one of the articles that estimates Watson's 2025 cap number dropping to about 37 million. This also had void years running to 2030. I'm not a cap expert, but I saw another article that had similar figures, but different enough where I don't think one was just copying from the other. We'll see what OTC has when they get the numbers updated. I'd trust them over anyone as I've found them pretty accurate over the years. https://brownswire.usatoday.com/2024/12/28/browns-deshaun-watson-restructure-details/

No doubt Scott Boras played a large role in the contract that Pete Alonso got. He likely just ignored Alonso's drop from 4.4 bWAR to 3.2 bWAR to 2.6 bWAR and just thought teams would see Alonso as a 3.5 WAR player then times 9 million per WAR (although the market now seems closer to 8 million per WAR) = 31.5 million per season and next year being age 30 season that he should get a 4 year deal....and then begins with a price even above that so he can negotiate down to a 4 year, 126 million dollar deal which would be the target. And Boras would obviously be taking the higher bWAR numbers. fWAR for Alonso over the last three years has gone from 3.8, 2.8, 2.1. It's a nice deal for the Mets as the average of the projection services have Alonso as being roughly a 3 WAR player next year. 10 million per WAR is certainly not a outrageous price for a big market team like the Mets who also have an owner that likes to throw money around. But if you are the rest of the league, Alonso was a 2.35 bWAR/fWAR player in 2024 and next year is his age 30 season...so as a rule of thumb one should start subtracting WAR for years following 2025. It's not at all crazy to think the rest of the league sees Alonso as something like a 3 year, 60 million dollar player. I was anticipating a lot more than that when I started looking at the numbers, but the data is what it is. Alonso is on a unmistakable downward trend and last year he was only a 2.35 bWAR/fWAR player. Projection services have him bouncing back up to about 3 WAR next year. We'll have to wait to see what happens.

The details of the Deshawn Watson re-worked contract have not been made public yet, so that is not currently included in the overthecap numbers. They still have Watson carrying 72.935 million dollar cap number. A Browns blog had a article from some cap guru that speculated the new cap number after the re-work would probably be around 37 million, if accurate, that would subtract 35.9 million from the deficit. So it's possible they are under the cap now...but would be about 3 million over after adding in the upcoming rookie pool dollars. The Browns are looking at a lost season in 2025 and already have 12 picks in the upcoming draft. For once I think they do the smart thing, don't take a vastly over-rated QB at #2 and instead trade down (some dumb team should give them an offer they cannot refuse to get either Ward or Sanders, who seem to have separated themselves from the rest of the QB class) and get a better player and add even more picks to the 12 they already have. I don't see why the Browns should have any real motivation to have to make a Garrett deal before the draft. I already saw one article this morning that suggested that a Garrett trade might not happen until the summer, and according to overthecap a post-June 1 trade actually saves the Browns nearly 5 million in cap space, more motivation for the Browns to wait. Personally I would not mind giving up a couple first round picks for Garrett, however, I don't think you do so unless you are willing to go with a contract extension right away. I don't think you give up a couple first round pick and probably a couple more later round picks for a 2-year player. So if you make the deal, you have to plan on at least a 180+ million dollar extension that will probably have 3 or 4 years with a 40+ million dollar cap hit and 1 or 2 years with a 50+ million dollar cap hit. I'm looking at the Nick Bosa deal, 42+ million dollar cap number in 2026, 52+ million dollar cap number in 2027, 42+ million dollar cap number in 2028. At minimum, you would have to expect to give Garrett that type of deal.

Oh come on. He and the wife have done great things for the Browns, LOL.

Bob Nutting is 62 years old. We all have to go sometime.

Easiest decision ever, I'd take it to auction and put a 400k reserve on it. If it hits that, after paying taxes and the auction house fee...probably walk away with about 175k which would be enough for me. If it doesn't hit the reserve, right back to auction with a lower reserve. No way would it be a long-term hold. The guy blows out his shoulder in May and anything you could have gotten is right down the crapper.

Fair and square baby, fair and square. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/43523067/patrick-mahomes-disagrees-chiefs-getting-favorable-calls

Are the dumb-dumb Ohio State fans still volunteering to give the Badgers Ryan Day?

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/43483852/acc-weigh-changes-title-game-commissioner-says Phillips said the ACC could consider giving its regular-season champion a bye, and have the teams that finish second or third in the league standings play in the ACC championship game.