NFL 2021: The Super Bowl thread

Shad Khan apparently asked at least one head coaching candidate if they would work with Trent Baalke... while Trent Baalke was in the room.

“At some point, if that’s really the case — and I have reason to believe it is for at least a couple of guys — why are you dying on this hill? This is not a guy that’s been with your organization for 10-15 years that you feel strongly about, it’s a guy that you were recently introduced to.”

All this crap because Khan can't get rid of a terrible GM that no other team would hire.

*Legion* wrote:

All this crap because Khan can't get rid of a terrible GM that no other team would hire.

It's all ego. Khan doesn't want to be told what to do even if it is unquestionably the right thing to do.

Tweet of the day from yesterday:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/fF8fPMf.jpg)

It's technically five years because the Panthers are only two years into their seven-year rebuild. But don't let a little math problem take away from the photos!

Enix wrote:

Tweet of the day from yesterday:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/fF8fPMf.jpg)

It's technically five years because the Panthers are only two years into their seven-year rebuild. But don't let a little math problem take away from the photos!

Why did Tepper give such a big/long contract to him?

garion333 wrote:

Why did Tepper give such a big/long contract to him?

Because based on his thin resume at Temple and Baylor, Rhule had the rep as a program builder, and, well, the Panthers were a program that needed building. Building an NFL program, as we all know, is a seven-year ordeal.

The problem, of course, is that you can't recruit your way to a winning record in the NFL. And the NFC South isn't the AAC or the Big 12.

To Rhule's credit, he seems to be learning and has hired three new coaches whom he didn't pull from the college ranks. The worst thing you can say about new OC Ben McAdoo is that he has a ton of NFL experience, as do new STC Chris Tabor (from the Bears) and new O-line coach James Campen (whom Packers players rave about).

That said, the cynic in me says he'll draft Kenny Pickett because, well, you have to have a QB in this league. That might buy him a fourth year if Pickett improves over the course of the season and doesn't Darnold himself right out of a starting job.

I say Pickett over Malik Willis bc Rhule recruited Pickett in college, and Rhule has a comfort zone as big as that sloppy belly he tries to hide under those hideous smocks he loves.

Enix wrote:

And the NFC South isn't the AAC or the Big 12.

Now that Brady's retired, are you really all that sure about this?

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
Enix wrote:

And the NFC South isn't the AAC or the Big 12.

Now that Brady's retired, are you really all that sure about this?

And Sean Payton retired and left the corpse of Taysom Hill.

And Matt Ryan is still the QB for the Falcons. Which brings me to my next question is Ryan probably the next QB to retire and make way?

I don't think I watched more than 10 minutes of Falcons football this season and that's including highlights. Lowlights? And bloopers. Ryan could probably go away and I'm not sure if anyone would notice at this point.

ESPN did some quarterback predictions for 2022.

In short:

Trades (and non-trades):
Rodgers: stays in Green Bay
Wilson: stays in Seattle
Watson: (doesn't exist)
Garoppolo: trade to Tampa (2nd)
Carr: trade to Washington (1st and a conditional 4th)

Free agents:
Winston: re-signs in New Orleans
Bridgewater: re-signs in Denver
Mariota: re-signs in Las Vegas
Newton: re-signs in Carolina
Brissett: signs with Pittsburgh

Draft:
Kenny Pickett: pick #6, Carolina
Matt Corral: pick #11, Las Vegas (pick obtained via Carr trade)
Sam Howell: pick #20, Pittsburgh
Malik Willis: pick #31/31, Detroit
Desmond Riddler: round 2, New Orleans

The two I'm still not really buying are Rodgers and Carr. Although I think the odds of Rodgers staying are higher than I would have expected, in the end I think Denver's offer will be too good to pass up. And I think McDaniels both got the Raiders gig because of his plan for Carr, and I think the Raiders having Carr is part of what made McDaniels make himself available to that opportunity. I'm not buying McDaniels starting his second head coach stint with a rookie QB, and especially not with a Matt Corral caliber of prospect.

Byron Leftwich is expected to pull out of consideration for Jaguars head coach.

Good lord. I mean, I know it's the Jaguars, but the team had the opportunity to bring back a pretty beloved guy from their past to try to start over, and instead appears to be sticking with Baalke. I guess we have years' worth of the division being gently tossed back and forth between the Colts and Titans because the other two franchises are frantically searching for new dumpsters to set on fire.

Maybe Leftwich balked at how much they were going to pay him per loss.

I'm about ready to pull out of consideration for Jaguars fan.

I don't think I can watch the inevitable Baalke power struggle with both Doug Pederson AND Rick Spielman.

*Legion* wrote:

ESPN did some quarterback predictions for 2022.

I think they're right about Carolina drafting Pickett but I'd be stunned if Cam stuck around. They treated him like crap the last month of the season, and it hurts my heart to see him No 2 on the QB depth chart behind ...

IMAGE(https://preview.redd.it/z337yoi5ynd81.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=e29fbade97040ecf4febb694482ec5efe47e0cdd)

... this doofus on the right

What? Dude's got great energy. ✌️

Statement from the NY Giants about the Flores lawsuit.

Matt Eberflus revealed that he was offered the Jaguars job, but chose Chicago instead.

Jags: Trevor Lawrence, another #1 overall pick, and $60m cap space.

Bears: Justin Fields, no 1st round pick at all, and $30m of cap space.

Eberflus: "Hmm."

Jags: GM Baalke

Bears: GM New Ryan

Eberflus: "Go Bears!"

Pink Stripes wrote:

Statement from the NY Giants about the Flores lawsuit.

Was about to post this. Will be interesting to see where this goes. Regardless, even if the Giants clear themselves from this, it's apparent the Rooney rule is flawed. Will be interesting to see how Broncos, Miami and others respond.

Rat Boy wrote:

Maybe Leftwich balked at how much they were going to pay him per loss.

Would one say he...Baalked?

/Shades

Also a statement from John Elway. Pretty much what you would expect.

Pink Stripes wrote:

Also a statement from John Elway. Pretty much what you would expect.

IMAGE(https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1520724622ra/25194558.gif)

What on earth does Dan Snyder have on everyone?

Well, that's at least an okay choice of coach.

#Baalke4lyfe

Can someone do a wellness check on *Legion*?

Edit: I think Tony Khan saved me from having to root for the Jags? So thanks for that... I guess?

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

Can someone do a wellness check on *Legion*?

He's alive. And posting in the Fighting Games thread, of all places, so maybe it's more accurate to say he's on life support.

What have you done Khaaaaaaan!

So, are we going to hire 9 head coaches and not one of them is going to be an African American? Will the only black NFL hc be the one who won a Superb Owl and literally never had a losing season?

God, I hate that I had to post something nice about the Steelers.

So he agreed to tank for free?

There's a lot of speculation that Arians retires after this next year, and Leftwich will be offered the Bucs' coaching job. So . . . at least he could still stay in Florida? Bucs fans can buy Leftwich jerseys? I still remember the game where he was benched so Josh *heavy sigh yes cheeseburger joke* Freeman could take over.

Only the NFL with a completely straight face can say they have no diversity problems and at the same time have one black HC.

They count on knowing that a sizable portion of their fan base still thinks that that’s one too many.

....... sigh.

Doug Pederson is a fine choice for Jaguars head coach. He was one of my preferred choices.

But that's beside the point now.

Instead of trying to find the absolute best candidate, the Jaguars head coaching search revolved around, "what hoops do we have to jump through in order to not fire Trent Baalke? What coach can we get to debase himself enough to agree to work with Baalke?"

They didn't pass on Byron Leftwich because they loved Doug Pederson. They passed on Byron Leftwich because they thought the league's most destructive general manager was somehow preferable to the rising star black executive that Leftwich wanted to bring with him.

Pederson was one of their early interviews, and reportedly backed away due to trepidation about working with Baalke. In the end, he's the winner because he decided to not let that be a deal-breaker.

What's more, they didn't even have the guts to actually pass on Leftwich. As someone on Twitter pointed out, Leftwich gave them a week and a half to decide what they wanted to do, and they just sat and did nothing. Leftwich had to remove himself from consideration.

They're supposedly bringing in Rick Spielman to be executive VP, because taking away some of Baalke's responsibilities rather than just hiring a better general manager totally makes sense.

Baalke is Khan's man-on-the-inside, and is like this tumor that everything else has to be built around.

Also:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/MEry7SM.png)

Weird how Baalke has to kill someone like Cris Carter coming into the building, but bringing in little klansman Chris Doyle? No issues there.