NFL 2018 Draft Thread

Carolina did fine. The Panthers got a potential WR starter in Round 1, a couple of potential DB starters in rounds 2 and 3, a TE prospect in the 4th and four DL and LBs in the late rounds. The D-linemen might fit into the D-line rotation; the LBs will play special teams and back up the starters if they survive camp.

The Panthers didn't take an RB or an O-lineman. I think they figure Cameron Artis-Payne can take J-Stew's spot, and they've got a bunch of O-linemen on the roster who will try to replace LG Andrew Norwell (who was an UDFA, by the way).

So: A nice solid B. Nothing sexy, nothing dumb, and you can't get everything you need in the draft.

P.S. Thank god for Carolina North drafting Ricky Proehl's kid so Carolina Charlotte didn't have to. The Bills, smdh.

The difference in the two is that everyone knew Buffalo was desperate for a QB and had been trying to get into the top 5 for forever.

Arizona is run by a more experienced GM who played it cool and pushed a draft day trade through that was very favorable for Arizona. Frankly, Arizona fleeced Oakland who had the same leverage that Tampa had: to get in front of Miami at 11 who is the only team after Denver at 5 legitimately looking for a QB.

Everyone also knew that Arizona wanted to move up for a QB, but Keim knew he couldn't mortgage the future as he completely rebuilds the offense. Because they had Bradford under contract they also didn't look quite as desperate as Buffalo who have McCarron.

As an aside, Brandon Beane's draft choices remind me of Josh McDaniels' first draft where basically nothing panned out. McDaniels (and Brian Xander) settled down in their second draft and managed to find more quality players without, say, jumping up for Tim Tebow. Beane was desperate to get a QB, so they paid the price for it. Big time, but happily.

I don't think it needs to be said, but it shall: Moving up to the 7th spot costs more than moving up to the 10th spot.

I don't think the Bills went insane, I think they paid a higher price than Arizona and Arizona leveraged their experience to get a better deal. Props to Tampa on getting those picks. The Saints trade was insane. Not Washington's RG3 trade insane, but pretty insane.

Of course, there's Kamara being ROTY, so maybe the Saints see something everyone else doesn't.

Kekekekeke

Jason Witten has confirmed he's retiring and being hired by ESPN.

Raiders would have taken McGlinchey at #10 if the Niners didn't take him at #9.

That part I had heard before, but not this bit: the Raiders apparently would have taken McGlinchey over anyone except Bradley Chubb. According to Mike Silver at least, but he's covered the Raiders for a long time, and seems to often have access to what's going on over there.

Also worth remembering that the two teams picked in the order they did because of a coin flip tiebreaker. If McGlinchey turns out good, that was a big coin flip for the Niners.

I thought MMQB was King’s brand? Guess not.

Matt Ryan just signed a deal that pushes the QB annual average to the $30 mil mark, eclipsing Cousins by a full $2m/year.

Meanwhile, Green Bay's GM says to expect a Rodgers extension soon.

Jimmy G's gonna drop from top-QB-deal-ever to 4th place before training camp even starts.

The table is set for some very interesting negotiations between Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, and their respective teams. It's either guy over-$30m material? Because of course that's the market rate regardless of the answer.

Even at $30 million a year, QB is the absolute cheapest way to make your team good.

Regardless of if Garoppolo stays good or not going forward, the 2017 49ers are a case study in how a losing team suddenly wins once quality QB play comes to town.

Meanwhile, the Jaguars show just how much money you have to spend to be good without quality QB play.

How about the 2-14 Colts going 11-5 for 3 straight years when Andrew Luck arrived? Is that better?

Ryan is proven enough that I'm surprised there's even discussion. People see big numbers on QB contracts and lose their damn minds unless the guy has already punched a ticket to Canton.

Next year is going to be super interesting though. Along with Winston and Mariota like I mentioned above, I forgot Dak Prescott will also be entering the final year of his deal (4th round pick so no 5th year option). Three guys who would seem to be entrenched as starters for their teams, all with some untapped upside, but none of whom are in the elite tier at this point. And as if that's not enough, Russell Wilson will be entering the final year of his deal and clearly is going to leap up the QB compensation board (he's currently 11th in annual average).

There's also a bunch of the old QBs who will be entering the final year of their deal in 2019, some of whom may or may not necessitate extending before the season. Philip Rivers, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger. Rivers might require extending early, Brady and Roethlisberger are no threat to change teams or get stiffed by their existing teams, so they might not require extending until their deal expires and they decide to not retire (like Drew Brees this year, technically was a free agent this offseason but not really).

Lots of QB contract fun next offseason.

Seahawks release Cliff Avril who..........failed a physical.

Avril unfortunately has serious neck problems and may be done. Hope it's not the case for him but this wasn't unexpected.

Avril wants to play, but I doubt anyone is gonna take a chance on him.

Well, maybe the Cowboys. They like the guys who have injuries.

USC, duh.