Point Beer Is Best

The Colts have had three really good drafts in a row. Not just Nelson and Leonard this year, but all but one 2018 draft pick played in a game this year and both 7th round picks (including Zaire Franklin, a guy I had mocked to the Packers in the 7th) played in all 16 games. Only one 2017 draft pick has played in less than 20 games, and he's also the only player from the 2017 draft to not start at least a few games (including Nate Hairston and Anthony Walker, guys I had mocked to the Packers). Only one player from their 2016 draft has played in less than 30 games, and every player from that draft has started at least one game. I'd look to the Colts scouting department to poach some talent evaluators. All that's true, and the Saints added talent in other drafts as did the other teams. But they added two rookie all-pro starters. One draft stands out more than the others. Incidentally, I said the Colts picked up a all pro caliber CB and a duel threat RB, obviously I meant the Saints with Lattimore and Kamara. The Saints also picked up Ryan Ramczyk in that same draft. Before that draft, they had been playing .500 football for a few years, then had a resurgence last year largely fueled by their 2017 draft class. By the way, they had 2 1st round picks that year (#11 and #32 - eerily similar to the Packers in 2019 having #12 and TBD pick 30-32): #11 - Lattimore #32 - Ramczyk #42 - Marcus Williams #67 - Alvin Kamara That's FOUR starters in their first 4 picks. And above average starters at that. That's the kind of draft the Packers need to have if they want to see a quick rebound.

Crap. Well I thought if he was gonna go somewhere where he would not be the play-caller he would chose Green Bay. Guess not.

And now the Browns have hired away James Campen, who had one year left on his deal so they could have blocked him if they so chose. Pretty bummed out by that. He’s developed several starters out of Day 3 picks.

His career pivoted when Nick Collins broke his neck. The defense fell apart after that. I nearly come to tears whenever I think of "what could have been" if Collins was never injured during the first game of 2011.

Add up the numbers to see how much money this totals and you will immediate recognize how questionable this is. 60k for a rookie league ballplayer who participates in something like 55 games during a rookie league season? Not only that, but those players aren't even represented by the union until they are added to a 40 man roster. What those players make is a travesty, but absolutely nothing will be done as part of the CBA for those players since neither party has any interest in redistributing wealth to non-union players. The MLB union is weak, and was taken advantage of. They got suckered into agreeing to make the luxury tax more severe, at a lower overall number, and the owners (*wink* *nod*) are treating the luxury tax threshold much more like a hard salary cap. The solution is so much more complex than the NFL where you have equitable revenue sharing, a hard salary cap (and floor), but also non-guaranteed contracts. MLB players are going to want to reach free agency sooner than they currently do, which the big market teams would have no issue with. Those teams are going to be able to dish out contracts to premier talent right in their prime, and pre-free agency players are much more likely to wait it out rather than sign team-friendly extensions. But where does that leave teams who are not on equal footing in terms of revenue? You HAVE to fix the revenue-sharing for that to work, while also forcing the owners to spend those dollars on payroll. Obviously the revenue-wealthy teams will hate the idea of subsidizing their competition. But if the new CBA ends up being a situation where players reach free agency sooner without drastically redistributing revenue, how will small market teams compete? They can no longer rely on "controllable" players if players reach free agency in 3 or 4 years of service time as opposed to 6.

Well now Art Rooney has said he “can’t envision” Brown playing for the team in 2019.

Agreed. Now, if there's an elite EDGE that suddenly becomes available? Then I'm open to moving some early draft capital.

Yeah we can safely assume the exact opposite of that. He for sure will be looking for a new deal because he's already collected all of the guaranteed money. It's all about security, and none of his remaining contract is guaranteed. He's owed just under $39M over the next 3 years (for a $12.975M AAV). Whereas Odell Beckham just signed a 5 year, $95M deal ($19M AAV). Brown will absolutely, in his mind, think he is worth that and demand a new deal. I could be wrong, but I just don't see Brown as a guy who will be content on making $13M a year (will actually collect just over $15M in cash in 2019) with zero dollars guaranteed. Yes, there will be significant trade interest for sure. It's just a question if PIT can stomach the huge cap hit. Based on what I can see, a trade of Brown would accelerate his bonus amortization and result in a dead cap hit of $21.12M in 2019 (if they got weird and released him, they could spread that out over two years with the post-June 1st designation). If he remained on their roster, his cap hit is $22.165M. So a trade only relieves them of just over $1M in cap space.

The Packers Unrestricted Free Agents located here: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/ufa/green-bay-packers/ Of that list, I would want Breeland back for sure. Matthews is more of a name than anything at this point, but they are just so painfully thin at EDGE. Definitely not worth a big contract. I still like what Cobb brings to the table and would welcome him back at a good deal, but I have a feeling he will wind up where McCarthy does (sounds like NY Jets). For the first time awhile, the available cap space ($50M) feels like a real number of available spending cash on outside talent, rather than knowing a sizable chunk will be consumed by impending free agents that need a big extension. That's not necessarily a good thing either; rather it's an indictment into just how bad the 2015 draft class that nobody worth a second contract remains with the team. The bright side is that they can rectify that by using the cap space to use free agency. They also have some extra draft capital (Saints pick, 4th rounder from the HHCD trade) to also potentially trade for talent.

Remember, they will have somewhere around $50M in cap space, maybe a little more if they can restructure Graham and Perry. The draft isn't the only place to source starters. This draft is so deep at DL and to a slightly lesser extent OLB/Edge - and fairly weak at OT and to a lesser extent OG - that I think they go DL/OLB early because they will likely be the positions with the BPA and go the free agent route to shore up OG. There is a lot of depth in free agent OG's too, and the supply/demand could work in their favor and the better value could be OG in FA. Pass rushers and defensive linemen cost a lot more in free agency than guards. I could see an OT early to (hopefully) develop for a year, but don't want to reach for one just for the sake of spending a high draft pick on an OT. Lot of early mocks have a run on EDGE early, so if a guy like Jonah Williams is there at #12 I could see them pulling the trigger. Really like him at OT, but could be a guy they try at G just to get him into the lineup and then kick him out to RT to replace Bulaga. Off topic, but I saw that the Colts will have a league-leading $122M in cap space heading into next season. They hit big in the draft in 2018 also, so they have a young core, a franchise QB already on his 2nd contract, and tons of cap space. They are set up well - and they're not even done playing yet this season. I was a HUGE fan of Quenton Nelson coming out. I knew he wouldn't last to the Packers, but was just praying he wouldn't fall to the Bears (who had just hired ND's o-line coach) because I knew he would terrorize us for the next decade. Thankfully the Colts nabbed him at 6. Some kids want to see QB/RB/TE highlights - my boys ask me before bedtime to see film of Quenton Nelson mauling defenders.

Agree. He struggled in a man coverage defense, both on the outside and in the slot. Josh Jones is much better near the line of scrimmage (more of a SS), so I'd like to see Jackson as more of a FS (along with Tramon Williams). Really like the idea of bringing back Breeland as the slot CB. King/Alexander on the outside, Breeland as your nickel back and then Jones/Jackson/Williams at safety is a starting point, but could really use more talent at safety and more depth at CB.

There were some roster building comments in the LaFleur thread, so I thought I'd make my comments over here to keep the discussions separate. I'm a bit more pessimistic than most regarding the talent presently on the roster. I think the past two drafts have some potential, but you could say that about pretty much any draft just a year or two after. The stretch of drafts before that was pretty bad, with the 2015 draft in particular setting us back in a big way. We're more than just a couple pieces away, and will need to explore free agency, particularly on the defensive side, like we haven't seen since Ryan Pickett/Charles Woodson. My thoughts on Offense: QB - still a question as to whether a capable backup to Rodgers is on the roster. Kizer was a freshman at ND when LaFleur was the QB coach, so there is some familiarity there. Has this team brought in an experienced veteran (a la Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Schaub types) to specifically be the backup QB since Jim McMahon? The premium on roster space has limited some teams from taking the 3 QB set up (Starter, Vet Backup, developmental QB) to what GB has been trying to do now for years (Starter, developmental QB & a prayer). I will be interested to see how they approach that this year. Still a couple years early to be looking for the heir apparent to Rodgers. RB - really, really like Williams & Jones tandem. I just hope LaFleur knows how to use them properly (McCarthy did not). Still room for another mid-round draft pick (maybe with return skills). LaFleur used a lot of 21 package (2 RB, 1 TE) in Tennessee but used mostly bunch formation 11 (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) with the Rams, so he is flexible in his scheme to maximize his personnel. Haven't checked but I'm assuming LaFleur doesn't use a FB. TE - They probably keep Graham around another year to see how he does in this offense, but wouldn't be surprised if they move on. But they obviously need to address this position in a big way. Tonyan intrigues me but there's really nothing on the roster to lose sleep over if they cut them loose. WR - Adams, and then a lot of potential and question marks. I don't think they'll bring back Cobb unless his market never materializes. MVS and EQ both flashed some ability. Allison is coming off an injury. Moore has the same ability as Adams to separate but struggled with drops, so too early to give up on. My opinion - you spend either a first or second day pick on a WR if the value is there. It's a passing league. OL - One of the premier tackle tandems. Yes, you need to draft the eventual replacement for Bulaga but there is no way I cut him loose. He is still elite, but obviously can't be counted on to start every game. But that is no reason to just cut the guy loose if his cap number is not prohibitive. Linlsey is solid. Taylor had a down year. RG was atrocious. Significant attention needs to be paid to address the current and near-future construction of the OL.

Well he signed the extension in the spring of 2012, so the Brewers had just appeared in the NLCS. However, it was just 2 years removed from Fielder's "bowling ball" celebration that irked the Giants. I'm mostly kidding about that stuff, but the way he still held a grudge against Braun in 2018 leaves me wondering how he feels about Milwaukee. Do we know which teams are on his list? Can he update it annually?

I hope it’s not, I would hope that the packers would let the new coach pick his coordinators. For what it's worth, McDaniels brought Gase with him to Denver as his WR coach. Gase eventually became the OC under Fox after Mike McCoy left to coach the Chargers. They may very well be interested to hear from Gase a first-hand account of what it was like being on a coaching staff with McDaniels and if there are any red-flags.

I don't know if that's an old rule that's recently changed. But, Dan Campbell has interviews with the Packers and Cards on Saturday and according to this article Brian Flores has 4 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcboston.com/news/local/NFL_Rumors__Brian_Flores_to_interview_with_these_four_teams_this_weekend-503790112.html%3famp=y Yeah, you can definitely have more than one interview. McDaniels just has no interest in the Bengals. If I were him, the two jobs I would be the most interested in are Green Bay and Cleveland. However, Cleveland has not requested an interview. And if they were interested, you would think they would have made the request. Unless Dorsey is performing some Jedi mind-trick (rumor is that he's been known to issue some Game of Thrones-level misinformation to specific individuals to find out who is leaking info to the media) and plans to hire McDaniels without an interview but still wants to pick the brains of other candidates, then Cleveland likely has no interest.

As was mentioned, it's interesting to note that Robertson acted as his own agent and *still* got a really nice deal. Saved himself over $1M (if you assume a 5% commission fee paid to an agent). I can't specifically recall a situation like this in MLB (a handful of players in NFL have tried it with bad results), but I can't imagine Robertson getting a better deal than what he just landed at age 34.

Speculating here, but his lack of interest in the Bengals job could also be due to the owner being the de facto GM (and they only staff 8 scouts, compared with GB's 18). Which means that a) he's well aware of Mike Brown's meddling and incompetence in roster building AND/OR b) McDaniels desires control over the 53 man roster, which would likely be impossible in Cincy. I sincerely hope it's not the latter. While that arrangement has worked in other locations (Seattle with Carroll & Schneider), I don't want a repeat of what happened in Denver when he had full roster control. I *do* find it very surprising that with 8 or 9 coaching vacancies, that only 2 teams have requested to interview him. If they haven't reached out this week, it's very unlikely they will at a later date. Either teams are put off by what he did to Indy last year (total understandable) or they fear he may want an out clause in his contract to take over NE when BB retires (this would be my concern, especially if he is as successful as I expect him to be this time around).

So far two teams (Bengals & Packers) have requested interviews with McDaniels. Per multiple reports out there now, McDaniels has turned down the Bengals request and is only interviewing with Green Bay this weekend. Things could change, but as of right now that's the only interview he has accepted.

Would Houston let him get away? With Watson on his rookie deal yet, they should have plenty of cap space to retain him if they so choose.

I agree that they need depth/upgrades on the O-line, particularly at guard, but many of the issues with sacks this season lay with scheme and Rodgers trying to extend the play downfield rather than taking the checkdown. PFF has TONS of issues with how they grade offensive lineman, so take it with a grain of salt, but I believe they had the Packers o-line rated as one of the best pass-blocking lines yet the Packers led the league in sacks given up on 3rd down. As far as the approach Murphy is taking, I like it (other than the fact I'm not crazy about how he's exerted himself rather than allowing Gute to make his own hire). It's reminiscent of what Al Davis would do when making front office and coaching hires 50 years ago. Bring in several candidates, even if you're only seriously considering a couple, just to get as many independent evaluations and opinions of your team as possible before settling on a decision. In that regard, I'm not sure that Munchak is a serious candidate, but from what I recall he had a hell of a run game when he was coach of the Titans and has long had that reputation. So why not pick his brain on how to best utilize Williams & Jones and get his evaluation on the offensive line? If I were to make a prediction, I think they end up hiring McDaniels. If not for the stunt he pulled last year, I would have to imagine that he would be #1 on almost every team's wish list. When you look at the personnel that NE has on offense (which honestly isn't that great outside of Gronk, when healthy), it's amazing that he's able to squeeze out the amount of point production that they do. He knows how to use situational running backs to maximize their effectiveness. They haven't had a complete back in years, but have maximized the talents of Blount, Lewis and now White. Brady is a complete statue. Imagine a much more mobile Rodgers running that same scheme, and knowing that the scheme will accommodate him as he loses his legs. Brady himself said that Rodgers would throw for 7,000 yards if he was in his place. I know that was some hyperbolic praise, but I would love to find out what kind of offense McDaniels would run.

The rest of the NL reacting to the Reds for providing salary relief to the Dodgers: http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/2013/02/incredulous.gif

I was really hoping his name was spelled “Benn” to balance out Mat.

I also hope the NFL adopts a more modern policy towards marijuana use, particularly when it's a safe alternative to the opioids used for pain management. It's one of the few areas where MLB is more progressive than the NFL.

I haven't seen the slant of statistical analysis being anti-labor, but I have seen that critique levied against what the Rays and Brewers did in terms of "blurring the lines" between starter and reliever, particularly by HardballTalk (Craig Calcaterra and Bill Baer). The argument there was that if you make the role of the starting pitcher less valued, that will in turn bring overall salaries down. I don't buy that. Rather, I think the overall labor dollars spent will not be impacted, and you will instead see those dollars shift to other positions. The economic disparities that exist between MLB teams means that those at a disadvantage financially will seek out innovation out of necessity. Now that seemingly every team has implemented the use of advanced statistics and analytics, the pressure is back on those small market teams to come up with more ideas to compete on the field now that the teams with deep pockets have adapted.