BrewerFan

It's hard for me to argue with the way the Brewers strength and conditioning gets a guy ready to go. We have injuries, but it still seems like it's at a low rate than most.

I mean, Clifton and Tauscher had short arms! Clifton's were... I think the same size. But I don't know anything about this dude, I was just listening to the Waddle and Silvy or whatever it is. They were talking about hopefully he'd take the job by week 14 when talking about Parsons. They've got a couple other guys I like... and if you do value PFF, Braxton Jones grades out well. It usually makes sense to me, but sometimes it... just doesn't. That's pretty wild. QB hits. I just went and looked at the 2 times they played(he was out last year). But PFF doesn't count the sacks as hits. So 20 QB hits is a really good season IMO. 30 is an ELITE season even without the sacks. Parsons has 30 and 13 sacks(43 total QB hits) 26 and 13.5 33 and 14 23 and 12 -missed the last 4 games when they sat him down after being pretty much eliminated. THIS feels more like those SF teams when they had Bosa and then you couldn't double the other teams. When they brought a LBer, he was getting home. And they did NOT have great DBs most of the time. He also plays more physical. He rushes upfield, but then stops on a dime and comes back under so well(this is off like 20 minutes of highlights, so not a comprehensive review, but... still).

I think that OL is good and could be REALLY good. Darrisaw bounces between good and great. O'Neil is an elite run blocker and good pass blocker. Will Fries was a top 3 Guard last year before injury. They took Donovan Jackson with their top pick in Rd1. He's a stud in the run game, he stepped in for Josh Simmons and was outstanding at LT. And then their big question is Ryan Kelly, former PB Center from the Colts. htthttps://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2025-nfl-offensive-line-rankings https://ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2025/08/28/nfl-offensive-line-rankings-2025/85850258007/ That's not to say your pick is wrong. I mean... the NFCN, I wouldn't be surprised to see any team win it. Even Chicago. Easy to envision Caleb taking a big jump, Ben Johnson getting that offense humming, a revamped OL(though still not set at LT as I think 'Sheed is better than Braxton Jones and I don't think Walker is anything to write home about). I don't know what their OL is. They added Thuney, Dalman, Jonah Jackson and then they've got like 4 guys who I think could get snaps at LT. They may have found a PS guy to take it over Amegadjie(who I loved coming out), Ozzy Trapilo and then this guy Theo Bendedet who... I have no clue about, but maybe @nate82could shed some light here. I've heard Chicago radio talking about him like he could be a guy who could beat out the entrenched starter and two day two picks by the time Micah comes to Chicago Week 14. Detroit is ranked way too low there by PFF. Having that one just overpowering and dominant OT makes it easier on everyone else. Sewell can take his man out of the play. If you have a guy like Sewell and Decker on the outside, you HAVE to pressure them up the middle, but I like the young guys they got. Still, it'd be the top OL if not for the loss of Ragnow. I'll certainly be hoping he doesn't have a mid-season change of mind. We have to rank last "on paper," right now. Morgan looks like he could be a Tom type player, but he hasn't actually done anything. He's athletic, has quick feet, but gotta see it. Banks-Again, they like him more than PFF and he allows Jenkins to kick inside, but...I'm not sure if he's solid or a stud. C-I think Jenkins has a big time year, but then you choose between signing him, MAYBE trading him. I don't know... RG-Rhyan is passable, Morgan could be great here, Benton doesn't seem quite ready but as the year goes on? RT-Tom, still underrated. Maybe the 3rd most valuable player on the team? This is why Parsons was so big. We have great OL's in the division and we've got another great OL on the way to the SB in Philly and SF.

Of course they are! And they'd be celebrating had they re-signed him. I never really considered this. In fact, I was exchanging private messages with a guy who works with NFL athletes training them(He's just starting, he's got a few down in Florida). Didn't know Micah, but is diehard Packers fan. I asked him about the Micah rumors and he Sent me a voice message saying; Yeah, it'd be awesome, but players like that are NEVER traded and the Packers don't work like that. From one of the most boring Training Camps in a LONG time to immediately one of the most excited as the Packers just VERY possibly traded for the BEST player in NFL History to be traded... in his prime. https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/top-10-biggest-trades-nfl-history-where-does-micah-parsons-deal-rank The NFL has never seen a trade like this. And we did it for two 1sts and Kenny Clark. And if we want, we'll probably be able to sign Clark after this year again!

Ahh...wonder if that was a block or a hedge against Wheeler? Or... just depth, but he got close.

Or getting hurt. I heard someone say he was a Brock Purdy type QB with more athleticsm(and a bigger arm) but until you play...that doesn't mean much, but say assuming he's good but has a minor injury that costs him 4 games. Just bringing in a guy who can go 2-2 can save your season(as Malik Willis did last year). The Vikings FO is underrated IMO. They rarely make the big splashy move, but they make smaller, smart moves. Last year Greenard and Van Ginkel(also drafted Dallas Turner)... as well as Florres. Now they added Hargrove and Johnathan Allen to play on the DL. Their CBs are pretty poor, but if you have a great pass rush, you don't need Deion and Champ Bailey.

I mean, Jayden Reed is practicing right now. That COULD end up being a huge story line. But practice is mostly is no contact and you're just practicing against the other teams scheme. Christian Wilkins, the guy the Raiders cut 1 year into a 4 year 110M deal with 85.2M GTD because he had a Jones Fracture in his foot, opted to not have surgery, missed the rest of the year, then opted to not have surgery in the off-season and the Raiders disagreed. Not saying Reed will end up in that same camp obviously, but you can see the video from him practicing and he's clearly favoring that leg and it's not super encouraging. So it sounds ot me, the Packers havea nother player that's choosing to try and put off surgery. -He has surgery when it happens and he's back by week 6-7. -He tries to play through it, realizes he needs surgery and he'll be out until the end of the year. In this case, the Packers have the Foot/ankle Doctor teams from all over the league send their guys to when they suffer an injury, so hopefully this is different, but this hasn't worked out great in the past. Jaire has been in a different situation though. He had a PCL injury that he tried to play with vs the Bears, reinjured it. And if you have surgery, you're out 6-12 months. So I guess there was no point in having surgery immediately then. Same with the shoulder. He broke the ball. That is a brutal injury and you can have surgery. Again, season ending. He came back that year and played pretty well vs SF in coverage, but then you needed him to tackle Deebo and that hurts just thinking about. Maybe he has a lowER pain tolerance for the NFL, but he might just have had some injuries that were worse than we were led to believe and that has given the impression he was soft.

I'd have said the Steelers, but I just noticed they let Najee Harris go in free agency... and for a deal worth up to 9.5M. Both teams have young and improved offensive lines. They should both have good defenses. The Steelers range is like 9 wins to 11 wins year to year irrespective of their QB so I'll say 11 wins. The Jets are a team that you look at and at least I've thought the last few years they should be better because of their defense and because they have a HC that I think is a really good HC. Saleh... who got a raw deal and now Aaron Glenn. The Jets OL on paper looks really good, but it's gotta translate at some point. Olu Fashanu, the took the kid from Missouri 7th overall, Armand Membou. Vera-Tucker has talent, but has always been hurt. Tippman has been solid and then they signed a good OG from Baltimore in John Simpson. So the Jets could be a surprise team. There's not nearly the expectations from the last two years, but they're good on the OL/DL and Fields is being given the job and has a 2 year deal and maybe a little bit of a chance to relax and not press? Who knows what they'll do, but I wouldn't be shocked if they won 8-9 games.

I know he's been awful with the Red Sox... but I also remember how nasty he was with the Dodgers...and of course how the Brewers get the most out of pitchers. Today would be the last day. Any chance we wait until after the game and try and pick him up, even if it's just to add to the BP with Megill and Grant Anderson out? I know it'd be asking a lot, but... I think he could help a team out, throwing out of the pen he can just be more of a sinker, slider pitcher? The two pitches that still grade out reasonably well?

Well... that's what they said. Jerry Jones also said he thinks this makes their team better. This trade was SUCH a bad move by Dallas. If you're looking at teams that want that edge and have a good DT, I'd be on the phone with the Lions. They so badly want a stud opposite of Hutchinson and they have Alim McNeil who is 24 and... I think a better player at this point than Clark. And even if he's not, he's over years younger. Maybe Detroit wasn't willing to do that(it'd be a massive cap hit for them this year). I don't think we were looking to give up on Clark, but I also thought looking ahead to next year, there were two guys who were probably not going to be back without a change to their contract. Clark and Jenkins. Jenkins has a ~25M cap hit and just under 5M in dead cap and I thought Clark was set to make over 30 and would have had a 14M dead cap hit...

A little less painfful with Little fielding the ball!

That's the bright side. As stupid as we're playing, we're down 1 run to one of the top teams in the game while going for the sweep. And now Toronto trying to match the Brewers mistakes! I guess it's just an ugly game!

I was thinking they were playing the opposite. Almost like they want this game too bad and they're trying to force it... which is odd given how well they are hitting the ball. Either way, it's been like 4-5 just basic mistakes. Chourio not tagging, I think Turang is to blame for covering 2nd on that DP attempt, but you should know who is covering. Contreras being thrown out at 3rd for the 3rd out. They've left 2 on twice with men in Scoring position just due to bad base running decisions and the middle of the order was up both times. Who was up when Contreras was thrown out? Was it Vaughn?

I don't really think he's been that bad. If they don't botch that double play he's looking fine. This inning, ball off the mound, GB in the hole at SS. Maybe Ortiz makes that play? I don't know, but at LEAST Woody's mistakes are physical and not just mental.

And if you get a good jump. Seeing the replay of his jump from 3rd makes it that much more annoying. Just take the free bag. You already won the series, you're up 6.5 in the division and 5 for the #1 seed, but they're playing like they're desperate.

Not close. This team plays smart, they play aggressive, they keep coming. This game they're playing stupid... and aggressive. Just terrible baseball. And they're hitting the ball well. They're playing almost desperate. I don't understand this. Jackson Chourio is up and you take the bat out of his hands.

I 100% thought about writing something about Vanilla Ice...totally brought me back to...I don't know, maybe when I was like...5 years old and that was constantly on MVP. Edit-*MTV... I'm thinking about what they'll name Jordan Love after the season when we win 14 games with a defense that keeps taking the ball back!

When they announce the GTD money, they don't always do a good job of differentiating the "GTD against injury," vs "GTD against skill," I know some of the money is Guaranteed against injury but not skill. Which... if we got into that, this trade would be a disaster. Parsons has an option bonus in '27 and '28 for 38M and 34M. I think this is more accurate and the option bonuses are actually also Guaranteed. This would make more sense. There are 38 and 34M option bonuses that are fully guaranteed that they can spread out like a signing bonuses(they likely serve as the groundwork for an extension)... Looks to me like it really just serves to keep the cap hits down early on in the deal... which doesn't really matter too much as they have a lot of cap space and it rolls over, but they likely want to keep cap room so they can have room to maneuver. Hey, Clowney is still available! Which...I'm obviously kidding, but Mike Pennel or Christian Wilkins are both DTs I'd be looking at. What's scary about Wilkins is that he missed almost all of last year and got cut despite being one of the best DTs in Football because of a Jones fracture. It's making me think Jayden Reed should just go ahead and get it surgically fixed and come back later in the season as he doesn't look good and we're going to need him, but separate topic. Anyway; https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/72392/micah-parsons/contract/cap So you see the option bonus. That appears to be spread over 5 years. I'm guessing they'll have to restructure after 3 years, roll that into a Signing Bonus and then spread that AND the signing bonus out another 5 years. In 3 years, you're likely looking at 60M for the top Edge rusher anyway, so... maybe they don't, who knows. Eventually, there will come a time to pay the piper, but... if you have cash, you can ALWAYS work around it. Cash for signing bonuses and void years. BUT, for these purposes; The dead cap is going to probably be more like; 2028 38M+34M.. though I don't think the 34 in '28(for the '29 season) is fully GTD vs skill, just injury so, I think that's partially guaranteed(but I could be wrong). I'm mixing and matching but I found this and I'm trying to work it out. I get what he's saying, 1/3 of our salary cap taking up by two players, , but you can't just add two players AAV and then divide that by the cap. If they don't do ANYTHING with the contracts, then...there's going to be one helluva cap hit in Love's last year, but they both have the same agent and they'll extend both or they'll... I don't know, split the cap hit up over 2 years and if they absolutely need to, but as you said, it takes one year and you can get over that. To your point, we've seen this. We remained competitive during a MUCH worse cap situation than this. about half our cap was dead hits. THIS year our dead cap is as much Parsons and Love. We'll be fine though. https://overthecap.com/player/micah-parsons/9476

I was also a little off on Wilkins. I thought he was more of a pass rusher as a DT... but he's not. PFF Write up going into LAST year. So give me either and I'll be thrilled. And what the hell, lets wait until the Giants start off 0-5 and then see if they'll part with Dexter Lawrwence. I'd go full Milwaukee Bucks and trade all the firsts to get a 1970s like Rams front 4!

LOL... hey, I AM a fan of his though. He just looks like a quiet, kinda geeky guy(in the best possible way) and he just grinds. But he DOES love the "cult hero," line!

To the first point, I'm very biased, but he was a Wrestler. I actually saw him at a B1G duel this year watching the most dominant team in ALL College sports, the Penn State Wrestling team. He loves it and he's a fanatic and he could have been a great HWT... but he quit(guess there was a few more dollars taking the FB route🤑) The last part in bold, Pennel would be PERFECT. Brooks is a light DT who plays hard but cannot move men or hold like others and Wilkins(I'm assuming you mean Christian Wilkins) was a superstar who has had a weird year+, but for the price? Can't beat it. But give me Pennel a I'd be thrilled. I SO wish we'd gone after Cailis Campbell. He'd also be a good fit. He can still play the run and rush the passer(though Father time will catch up sooner or later). Still, Pennel would be great... and seems like he loved it here; https://lombardiave.com/ex-packers-mike-pennel-dropped-heartfelt-tribute-green-bay-vets

To the first point... that's a huge concern. My concern on defense WAS CB because... we just didn't have the guys out there(or as of now, I may be surprised by Nixon, Hobbs, Melton seems like an actual CB and Valentine). I love the safeties including Bullard though... not sure as a slot. But, NOW that group is good enough. If you don't have a great pass rush, you need a great secondary. If you don't have a great secondary, a great pass rush makes a good one great. This should make Valentine and company look MUCH better and we already know what these safeties were already among the best. But then I thought the Run D may be a problem without Slaton. I don't believe he was the best run stuffer in the league last year per say. Stats can be misleading(nobody would take Slaton in short yardage over Vita Vea or Dexter Lawrence) but he was very good and I though he'd been very good. With regard to the Cap... we're really not paying Parsons and Love 1/3rd of the Cap. If you take his AAV, sure, but we know how the Cap works. This is a 3 year deal and then we restructure. Even then, if we want to move off him or trade him(hypothetically) the cap hit is small. Cap hit; 2025-9.97M 2026-19.23M 2027-26.84M 2028-64.2M Dead Cap-17.6M 2029-68.2 Dead Cap-8.8M So those are the cap hits. Salary cap 2025= 279.2 Cap is expected to grow at about 9-10% per year. Lets be conservative though So that means 2026 the cap is ~300M growing to again, pretty conservatively, 380 by 2030. Love and Parsons will be 39.5M in 2025 279.2M 55M in 2026 - Conservative cap of 300M 70M in 2027- Cap of ~325 ----------------- The year both Love and Parson's dead cap hits drop and they'll be restructuring or... 140M in 2028-Cap ~350 ------- Love's contract is up. So they're going to restructure before Love has a 75M cap hit and Parsons a 65M cap hit for both. And again, those are very conservative estimates. I think it's more likely the cap is closer to 2026-304 2027-331 2028-364 2029-397 2030-432 -And that's without We're out of the Covid era and the NFLPA "repaying," the losses the owners took. TV contract of 111 Billion dollars with the NFL get an opt out in 2029 and they take in another 500M this year on the redzone package and they now have a 10% share of ESPN. This is partially why I think the packers were willing to eat 36M in dead cap space for Clark and Jaire and give Parsons a 4 year 188M extension(the EXTENSION is a big deal here as well as it makes the total deal 5 years 209M and ~41.8M per year). So...sorry, I know they say brevity is the soul of wit, but... lets be fair, Hamlet was crazy... plus, I've never been accused of having much wit, BUT... my point is, the number looks big because it IS big, but these numbers ALWAYS look massive and then the Cap goes up Just go back 4-5 years. Even Bakhtiari. We made him the highest paid ever and THEN Covid came and shut everything down, the cap stalled and it didn't grow as it was expected to. Wirfs just got 5 years and 140M with ~90GTD You could go further and see how Edge contracts were crazy when they hit 25M a year and then 30 and this year they just blew past 30 to 34, to 40.5M AAV. They know the Cap is going keep flying, sports are driving Live TV and everyone wants the NFL. This won't ever be 1/3rd of their salary cap. Not even when you get to the craziest, end of the contract, Love 75M, Parsons 65M... both of which are there to force a restructure(or trade/cut).

A couple interesting stats; Since Parsons has come into the league, he's been EITHER #1 or #2 every year in Pass Rush Win/Loss Rate. Last year he was #1 in that metric, 30.2% Last year he was #1 in Pressure percentage, he was at 16.8% He's been #1 or #2 in the in those 4 metrics sine entering the league. With Parsons on the field, the Cowboys are #1 in the NFL in defense THE LAST 4 YEARS. When Parsons was off the field, the Cowboys were DEAD LAST in defense. The Packers rushed 4 the majority of the time, played zone Defense. They were 23rd in pressures with 4 players. When the Packers rushed 5, they were #1. That last figure is largely due to Edgerrin Cooper's blitzing ability(I'm mostly going off a ESPN show where they spit out a lot of facts, though opinions ranged from "Great trade for the Packers," to "The Packers robbed the Cowboys here!" To put a final... pin in this, I think drafting Oliver was very much because they wanted a guy who could be a speed rusher off the edge. Schefter said they were in on all the players who were RUMOED to be available or at least checked in on Garrett, Crosby, Hendrickson, Watt, Kayvon Thibodeaux even as he was apparently going to be behind Burns and Abdul Carter on the depth chart(this made the least sense to me). Plus, given their pursuit of Mack and then subsequent signings of both Preston and Za'darius Smith, it tells you how badly they want that dominant edge. Also, from most reports, NFC Executives said they thought there were a lot of teams that would have beaten this deal still. Detroit is where I thought he'd go given ALL their cap space+a couple really good DTs. With Parsons and Hutchinson, that would have been a deadly defense. The ONLY thing I can think of in hindsight is...it would have been nice to keep Slaton given how this all played out with some of the guys like Grant gone before Rd2, adding Clark to the deal, etc... but they can make moves later. Hell,, they can sign Christian Wilkins if they wanna get crazy! He should not cost a lot but was an AP caliber player before last year with the Raiders. But hell, maybe we did offer him more. Maybe they love Stackhouse and guys like Johnathan Ford or Mike Pennell are available during the season. So if that becomes a problem, Gutey will solve it.

I think you'll see plenty of Perkins. They said Collins was taking a lot of balls in the IF. They moved Durbin to SS to finish a game. I think it's as likely they move Turang to SS and maybe Collins to 2B on occasion, you play Chourio in LF, Perkins in CF and Frelick in RF. But...then again, the just said tonight, Ortiz may only be on the IL the minimium amount of time, so ... maybe they won't do that. **Of course they also said that Vaughn was playing some 3B, so... when they said that I wondered if maybe this was all irrelevant.