NFL 2011-2012 Off-Season Pre-Draft Catch-All

Paleocon wrote:

I think the best post ever on my facebook page was the one my brother left that said "Denver sacrifices virgin in hopes of Superbowl".

You mean the image I posted above?

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/r2gPl.jpg)

Tebow is officially a Jet; he apparently had the option to choose the Jets or Jaguars, and chose the Jets.

Thank you, Tim, for the entertainment you being on the Jets will give us.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Thank you, Tim, for the entertainment you being on the Jets will give us.

YESSSSS. Let the fun begin! I'm surprised he picked the Jets, but I wonder if he thinks he'll have a better chance to move into a starting position there.

Looks like the Jets & Broncos split the $5M down the middle.

Phishposer - I pretty much agree with your latest post, I just don't see that this bounty punishment has to flow from Goodell's larger overhaul. Does it fit right in? Yes. But consider this: most people who've expressed an opinion on Goodell's rules in this forum have said they hate them, myself included. Yet most people here are saying they have no problem with the punishment handed down to The Fallen Saints: Atras' Bounty.

This bounty issue and the cover-up would be a big deal in this day and age even if Goodell wasn't busily messing up football, imho.

Well no one can accuse the NFL for being run by the owners.

Goodell has laid down the hurt on Dallas, Washington and N.O this off season.

I hate how anytime something happens in the NFL, people close ranks and say ridiculous things to support their guys. It's like the police's blue code or whatever. Yeah, support your people. Stand by them in their time of tribulation. But don't insult everyone's intelligence with statements even you can't believe.

Specifically: Drew Brees. He's shocked at Payton's punishment, and he needs an explanation. Well, he could possibly be shocked Payton was suspended a full year, but he should only be surprised by degree. As to needing an explanation, he got one. And most folks don't seem to need much explanation, if any. You break the rules, lie about it, encourage others to lie, disobey direct instructions from the league and your team's owner...bad things follow. What's to explain?

Also shocked: Broadway Joe is shocked and dismayed that his Jets have traded for Tebow. He may have also been feeling no pain while giving that phone interview.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Tebow is officially a Jet; he apparently had the option to choose the Jets or Jaguars, and chose the Jets.

Thank you, Tim, for the entertainment you being on the Jets will give us.

I agree with this but I will admit to being sad we did not get to see *Legion*'s head explode.

Jeff-66 wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Thank you, Tim, for the entertainment you being on the Jets will give us.

I'm surprised he picked the Jets, but I wonder if he thinks he'll have a better chance to move into a starting position there.

Perhaps he was listening to Leonard Bernstein and dreaming of job security:

When you're a Jet,
You're a Jet all the way
From your first cigarette
To your last dyin' day.

I am just amazed Denver got a 4th round pick, an upgraded pick from 7th to 6th and $2.5 million for Tebow, compared to what the punditry were estimating or even outright waiving him.

LeapingGnome wrote:

I am just amazed Denver got a 4th round pick, an upgraded pick from 7th to 6th and $2.5 million for Tebow, compared to what the punditry were estimating or even outright waiving him.

I think we all were. I suspect this is one of the many reasons the Jets are a dysfunctional franchise.

Well, that 2.5MM really goes to Tebow for his buyout clause, right? And it's half of $5MM. The other half was paid by Denver. So the way I look at it, the Jets paid Tebow a $2.5MM bonus to join their team, and amazingly, Denver paid an extra $2.5MM to get rid of him.

So the NFL Competition Committee is considering a bunch of rule changes. Let's go over them:

1. Giving the authority to determine replay reviews to the replay official in the booth, not the referee on the field.

Makes sense from an efficiency standpoint. No need to have the referee run off the field to a peep booth when you have an official whose job is to sit in a booth in front of a bank of screens and watch them. And that booth guy is already doing all the "automatic reviewing" of scoring plays and crap. Might as well put him to work as the video reviewer in every case.

2. Modifying the horse-collar tackle rule to remove the exception for quarterbacks in the pocket, so that a quarterback in the pocket may not be yanked down by the back of his shoulder pads or inside collar of his jersey.

Ehh, skirts.

3. Changing overtime so that the postseason rule will be used in the regular season as well, and no regular-season games will be ended on a field goal on the first possession of overtime.

I think the postseason overtime rules as-is are crap, but I am in favor of not having separate rules for regular season and postseason. That bit is pointless.

4. Adding a loss of down to the penalty for kicking a loose ball, as is the case in college football.

Hmm.

5. Adopting the college rule for too many men on the field, which is a dead-ball foul if a team lines up on offense for more than three seconds, or if a team on defense lines up with too many men and the snap is imminent. In those cases, the officials will blow the play dead and assess a five-yard penalty. This change wouldn’t affect the rulings on players running off the field who don’t get off in time.

So, no more "free play" for the offense if the defense has too many men. Don't know how much it'll matter, too many men penalties seem to be something officiating crews miss often.

6. Expanding the defenseless player rule to protect defensive players on crackback blocks, making it illegal to hit them in the head or neck area.

The league might as well just get it over with and make hitting anyone in the head anytime illegal.

7. Automatically reviewing turnovers via instant replay, just as scoring plays are automatically reviewed.

Let's just automatically review EVERYTHING. It's the end of the world if a call is made incorrectly!

The league also considered the following bylaws:

1. Modifying the roster rules for teams that play on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I'd like to know exactly what "modifying" they mean. I assume an extra spot or two on the active roster those weeks.

2. Moving the trade deadline from Week 6 to Week 8.

Big thumbs-up for this one.

3. Expanding the roster limit for training camp and the offseason to 90 players, with unsigned draft picks now counting toward that limit, whereas in the past unsigned draft picks did not count toward the 80-player limit.

That's sensible.

4. Moving this year’s final roster cutdown day to Friday night instead of Saturday, which is designed to give an extra day of work after cutting down to final rosters for the two teams playing in the first game of the season, which this year is on Wednesday instead of Thursday.

Small detail, but sure, OK.

5. Adding an injured reserve exemption so that if a player was on the roster through the first regular season weekend, that player can be placed on injured reserve and designated for return, and then can return to practice six weeks later and play in a game eight weeks later, rather than having all players on injured reserve out for the season.

I like it. Teams have been carrying injured players through the season that they knew would be able to return late in the year. And that just robs the team of a roster spot during that time, which hurts the on-field product.

6. Allowing one roster exemption per team per week for a player who is inactive with a concussion.

How is this snuck in at the bottom of the list? This is the most clever thing ever.

How do you get teams to actually admit a player has a concussion? Dangle a free active roster spot in their faces.

Nice carrot, competition committee.

5. Adopting the college rule for too many men on the field, which is a dead-ball foul if a team lines up on offense for more than three seconds, or if a team on defense lines up with too many men and the snap is imminent. In those cases, the officials will blow the play dead and assess a five-yard penalty. This change wouldn’t affect the rulings on players running off the field who don’t get off in time.

So, no more "free play" for the offense if the defense has too many men. Don't know how much it'll matter, too many men penalties seem to be something officiating crews miss often.

I think this is related to the playoff game last year in which the defense had too many men on the field, but with like 13 seconds left, the offense still lost 7 or eight seconds, and the 10 yards was not enough to make a difference. I think a lot of people saw that as a perfect prevent defense strategy at the end of the game in certain circumstances.

I would have made the rule only apply under a minute, or even 30 seconds, when trading 10 yards for 7 to 8 seconds is worth having 15 men on the field to prevent a long TD.

Quote:

2. Modifying the horse-collar tackle rule to remove the exception for quarterbacks in the pocket, so that a quarterback in the pocket may not be yanked down by the back of his shoulder pads or inside collar of his jersey.

Ehh, skirts.

I thought the problem with horse-collar tackles was when the guys are running and then you slide during the tackle. A QB standing still getting pulled down by his pads does not have the same injury risk, right? Was there some injury to a QB last year that prompted this change?

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Well, that 2.5MM really goes to Tebow for his buyout clause, right? And it's half of $5MM. The other half was paid by Denver. So the way I look at it, the Jets paid Tebow a $2.5MM bonus to join their team, and amazingly, Denver paid an extra $2.5MM to get rid of him.

From what I understand Denver already paid Tebow $6+ million in a salary advance at the start of his contract with amounts 'designated' each season to count towards the cap. They wanted the Jets to pay them back that money for the seasons that are left on his contract since he won't be with the Broncos, which was the $5m. So basically the Jets paid the Broncos $2.5 million, Tebow didn't get any new money, it was just repaying Denver money they already paid him.

Jayhawker wrote:
5. Adopting the college rule for too many men on the field, which is a dead-ball foul if a team lines up on offense for more than three seconds, or if a team on defense lines up with too many men and the snap is imminent. In those cases, the officials will blow the play dead and assess a five-yard penalty. This change wouldn’t affect the rulings on players running off the field who don’t get off in time.

So, no more "free play" for the offense if the defense has too many men. Don't know how much it'll matter, too many men penalties seem to be something officiating crews miss often.

I think this is related to the playoff game last year in which the defense had too many men on the field, but with like 13 seconds left, the offense still lost 7 or eight seconds, and the 10 yards was not enough to make a difference. I think a lot of people saw that as a perfect prevent defense strategy at the end of the game in certain circumstances.

I would have made the rule only apply under a minute, or even 30 seconds, when trading 10 yards for 7 to 8 seconds is worth having 15 men on the field to prevent a long TD.

I would prefer to do it a different way. I think, for any instance where a defensive penalty makes for a "free play" situation, if the offense does not take the result of the free play, the play goes into the books as an untimed down, and the clock is reset to where it was before the play.

Offenses would still get the "free play" from a defensive procedural penalty, but without being punished by a time runoff.

I agree. Free plays are exciting, as a fan when you see the flag come in and see the play run you know something fun is probably going to happen. Limiting free plays makes for a more boring experience.

*Legion* wrote:

I would prefer to do it a different way. I think, for any instance where a defensive penalty makes for a "free play" situation, if the offense does not take the result of the free play, the play goes into the books as an untimed down, and the clock is reset to where it was before the play.

Offenses would still get the "free play" from a defensive procedural penalty, but without being punished by a time runoff.

That's fair. Mainly, I think they had a legitimate loophole to close. They just overdid it.

Why did I turn on ESPN at the gym this morning.. Skip Bayless (why does he have a job again) proclaimed that Jacksonville made the biggest mistake in Franchise history not trading a 2nd round pick for Tim Tebow.

It's like the world has gone crazy....

TheGameguru wrote:

Why did I turn on ESPN at the gym this morning.. Skip Bayless (why does he have a job again) proclaimed that Jacksonville made the biggest mistake in Franchise history not trading a 2nd round pick for Tim Tebow.

It's like the world has gone crazy....

Skip is pretty cool, and fun to watch, IMO. He just happens to be the world's biggest Tebow fanboy, and is irrational when it comes to him. The exchanges yesterday between him and Stephen A Smith were freakin' hilarious. Smith did so many facepalms.

In other Tebow news, he's already causing disruption in NY. Drew Stanton wants out.

Enjoying the offseason so far.

All the drama and none of if it landing close to GB.

Whatever NE is attempting to do at WR is making me giggle especially.

They resign Welker obviously then follow that up with in this order, Gonzalez, Llyod, Stallworth and Branch. And Chad is still on the roster.

TheGameguru wrote:

Why did I turn on ESPN at the gym this morning.. Skip Bayless (why does he have a job again) proclaimed that Jacksonville made the biggest mistake in Franchise history not trading a 2nd round pick for Tim Tebow.

It's like the world has gone crazy....

Well, you did say ESPN.

Even stepping out of my Jag fandom for a moment, I hope Blaine Gabbert has a huge year, just to make fools of the "Jacksonville MUST get Tebow" talking heads.

I have a good deal of respect for your average Jets fan.. they seem almost as knowledgeable about football that Eagles fans... the passion is there as well.. but..but.. if they go Tebow crazy I'm done with them...

Denver.. ok.. NY.. no.. I just can't imagine it.

I would call Skip Bayless a massive, epic-level douche, but that would be an insult to massive, epic-level douches. He's the singly worst talking head out there.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

I would call Skip Bayless a massive, epic-level douche, but that would be an insult to massive, epic-level douches. He's the singly worst talking head out there.

I would put him and Stephen Smith on the same level.

LeapingGnome wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

I would call Skip Bayless a massive, epic-level douche, but that would be an insult to massive, epic-level douches. He's the singly worst talking head out there.

I would put him and Stephen Smith on the same level.

Is that level on fire? Please tell me that level is currently on fire.

I don't particularly hate any of those rule changes, and a couple of them I definitely approve. Reviewing turnovers seems like a great idea to me, but I'm the kind of guy who agonizes over bad calls. Changing the rules for too many men on the field was a smart response to last year's humorous fiasco.

Leap: I had heard that the $5mm was a buyout clause triggered if Tebow is traded, which seems very different from what you describe. However, I'm not super invested in the correctness of whatever source I got that from (don't remember).

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

I would call Skip Bayless a massive, epic-level douche, but that would be an insult to massive, epic-level douches. He's the singly worst talking head out there.

I would put him and Stephen Smith on the same level.

Is that level on fire? Please tell me that level is currently on fire.

Made me laugh out loud in agreement.

*Legion* wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

Why did I turn on ESPN at the gym this morning.. Skip Bayless (why does he have a job again) proclaimed that Jacksonville made the biggest mistake in Franchise history not trading a 2nd round pick for Tim Tebow.

It's like the world has gone crazy....

Well, you did say ESPN.

Even stepping out of my Jag fandom for a moment, I hope Blaine Gabbert has a huge year, just to make fools of the "Jacksonville MUST get Tebow" talking heads.

I just became Blaine Gabbert's biggest fan.. I'm crossing my fingers he has a great year..

LeapingGnome wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

I would call Skip Bayless a massive, epic-level douche, but that would be an insult to massive, epic-level douches. He's the singly worst talking head out there.

I would put him and Stephen Smith on the same level.

Yeah Stephen A is a lot more annoying. He and Vitale are up there at a level worse than Bayless. Skip is only annoying when talking about Tebow.

When he's discussing almost any other topic, it's quite entertaining. Sadly the Tebowmania has taken over First Take, and the show has been nigh unwatchable. Hell I guess it's all over ESPN, but here we were last week, March Madness, the day after Selection Sunday... and they spent an hour of First Take talking about the damned NFL offseason.

And then on Tues/Wed they didn't even talk college basketball at all.

They do this with everything though. NHL playoffs? No no, we're too busy talking about NFL draft. NBA playoffs? No no, we're too busy talking about NFL training camp. World Series? No no, week 6 of the NFL is way more important. NFL playoffs? f*ck YEAH, we will talk about that sh*t all day long. No need to cover the NBA, college, or NHL seasons that are going on at the same time...

ESPN is starting to make me sick of football...