NFL 2016: Offseason: Pre-Draft / St. Louis Trolling

I know Jared Allen isn't exactly "young" by NFL standars, but I'm enjoying this trend of NFL players retiring at sensible ages. Good for Allen. Good for Heath Miller.

Chris Long was an easy release to see coming. He was the biggest cap figure on the Rams roster, and he's only had 4 sacks in 11 starts in the past 2 years.

Cook and Laurinaitus too if you go by their PFF grades. They were the 4th and 5th biggest cap figures in 2016 for the Rams.

They'll eat up a combined $6 mil in dead money, but their cap figures were about $29 mil combined, so that's a nice chunk of change to free up for a team that was already 10th in free cap space.

Some of that will probably go to contract extensions. Michael Brockers becomes a free agent next year, and Aaron Donald the year after that.

Vector wrote:

Put Barnwell and Lowe and the baseball folk on an easy to access to website and I'll consume what they give me. Simmons was the least necessary of the group.

That's the key part. Zach Lowe is still writing, but because Grantland aggregated so much talent (I also really enjoyed Wesley Morris, Rembert Browne and others) it was an obvious first stop when I opened my browser every day. I haven't read Zach Lowe for months because it's more of a hassle to find his work and there isn't a ton of adjacent work I'll also want to read.

Randy Gregory, the defensive end who dropped in last year's draft due to marijuana, has been suspended for the first 4 games of 2016 for a substance abuse violation.

Amazing that Dallas wasn't the environment for keeping the guy on the straight and narrow. I'm sure it will be different for Manziel though.

*Legion* wrote:

Chris Long was an easy release to see coming. He was the biggest cap figure on the Rams roster, and he's only had 4 sacks in 11 starts in the past 2 years.

Cook and Laurinaitus too if you go by their PFF grades. They were the 4th and 5th biggest cap figures in 2016 for the Rams.

They'll eat up a combined $6 mil in dead money, but their cap figures were about $29 mil combined, so that's a nice chunk of change to free up for a team that was already 10th in free cap space.

Some of that will probably go to contract extensions. Michael Brockers becomes a free agent next year, and Aaron Donald the year after that.

Yeah, Long was super obvious with his recent injury history, but I am a tad surprised Laurinaitus went also. He was always overrated by the Rams as he was nothing more than a tackling machines, but I figured he was still doing his job well enough to hang around.

Jared Cook has got to be the most frustrating TE in the league right now (assuming Jimmy Graham isn't toast). Dude would be on fire one game, then cold for three. And when he went cold, he went cold. Absolute disappearing act sometimes.

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garion333 wrote:

Jared Cook has got to be the most frustrating TE in the league right now (assuming Jimmy Graham isn't toast). Dude would be on fire one game, then cold for three. And when he went cold, he went cold. Absolute disappearing act sometimes.

Exactly why Tennessee let him go and ended up with Delanie Walker. It would really help Fisher if he could get over his former Titan player fascination.

Gumbie wrote:

Exactly why Tennessee let him go and ended up with Delanie Walker. It would really help Fisher if he could get over his former Titan player fascination.

And the Titans really made out like bandits with Walker. Guys like that, who are not-quite-starters that go elsewhere in free agency to become starters, tend to underperform. But with Walker, he started playing routinely the way he would flash in San Francisco.

*Legion* wrote:
Gumbie wrote:

Exactly why Tennessee let him go and ended up with Delanie Walker. It would really help Fisher if he could get over his former Titan player fascination.

And the Titans really made out like bandits with Walker. Guys like that, who are not-quite-starters that go elsewhere in free agency to become starters, tend to underperform. But with Walker, he started playing routinely the way he would flash in San Francisco.

Thats because the Titans have no one else to throw the ball to.

garion333 wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
Gumbie wrote:

Exactly why Tennessee let him go and ended up with Delanie Walker. It would really help Fisher if he could get over his former Titan player fascination.

And the Titans really made out like bandits with Walker. Guys like that, who are not-quite-starters that go elsewhere in free agency to become starters, tend to underperform. But with Walker, he started playing routinely the way he would flash in San Francisco.

Thats because the Titans have no one else to throw the ball to.

You're not wrong but he still has to yanno... run routes and catch the ball. He's pretty good at both of those things.

Everything you wanted to know about this past weekend's Gronk Cruise but was afraid to ask.

Rat Boy wrote:

Everything you wanted to know about this past weekend's Gronk Cruise but was afraid to ask.

I feel like Cam Newton doing this would result in more backlash...

Report: Cowboys will not bring back Greg Hardy.

Also, PFT and OTL have more specific and graphic language of what happened at the University of Tennessee on Leap Day, 1996.

One of the things Legion always harps on (and rightly so) is draft success. A good draft makes a franchise; a bad draft dooms it.

It's no plainer than with the Panthers.

For the final three years of GM Marty Hurney's tenure, Carolina hit on 28 percent of their draft picks (7 of 25). (To be fair to Hurney, three of the seven are Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly and Josh Norman.)

For the first three years of current GM Dave Gettleman's tenure, the Panthers have hit on 81 percent (13 of 16) of their picks.

Wait, wait, wait, wait. My dad follows *Legion* on Twitter?!

Rat Boy wrote:

Wait, wait, wait, wait. My dad follows *Legion* on Twitter?!

It was that last Kris Kross tweet that did it.

*Legion* wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Wait, wait, wait, wait. My dad follows *Legion* on Twitter?!

It was that last Kris Kross tweet that did it.

Well it was clearly not about fantasy football advice. For that he could just talk to my mother or text my sister.

49ers say Kaepernick will stay, meaning they've opted not to release or trade him before April 1st, when his salary for 2016 becomes guaranteed (and significantly reduces any likelihood of him leaving the roster, although the trade door could still be open).

I think the 49ers still may, and should, consider drafting a QB at the #7 pick in the draft. But Kap will get another shot.

They'd be stupid to let him go. His contract is still uber team friendly.

garion333 wrote:

They'd be stupid to let him go. His contract is still uber team friendly.

Yeah, I think it's best to do both. Keep him and draft a QB. That's the exact mistake the rams made when they were faced with a similar situation with Bradford. They kept him, but did plan ahead on forcing him compete.

garion333 wrote:

They'd be stupid to let him go. His contract is still uber team friendly.

Especially when the team has $55 mil in cap space (5th most), only a couple of free agents of any consequence (Anquan Boldin, Alex Boone, maybe Ian Williams), and if they do add a QB, it will be a rookie who won't cost much for a few years.

You may no longer have St. Louis to troll anymore. Everything seems to be pointing towards an MLS team. There is zero talk about the NFL coming back, but Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber and others seem to be gearing up for downtown soccer stadium and a team by 2020.

I kind of wish the everyone was more focused on an NBA team to share the Scottrade Center with the Blues, but I think st. Louis is still too racist to embrace the NBA. But I think and MLs team will be a big hit here, as St. Louis has always been a pro soccer town. It's been weird to not have a team. I'm assuming that with the NFL leaving, it is seen as an easier task to grab those available sports dollars now.

I wonder if it will keep the NFL out of St. Louis long term.

I'm surprised you guys don't have a soccer team. Seems like a low cost investment. When I still lived in Colorado, the soccer stadium was where they had all the summer concerts, so it was well worth the investment to the city (in my mind).

It's been weird, because St. Louis really does love soccer. The city has produced several star player, St. Louis university is a traditional soccer power, and it's been here before. Hell, I had a Pelé lunch box in first grade.

But in 1996, when the MLS launched, with the Rams just in town, no one in town was ready to invest in soccer. And they have not had anyone ready to invest until now.

There is a commission being led by the Dave Peacock, the point man in the attempt to build a football stadium, Bill DeWitt, owner of the Cardinals, and Blues CEO Chris Zimmerman to bring a team to St. Louis. Apparently they are close to solidifying an ownership group and getting a stadium built. And I think you are right that a soccer stadium would house other events that being revenue to town.

One plan for the stadium is to set it next to Union station downtown. That would put it at the end of Clark Street, 4 blocks from the Scottrade Center and 10 blocks from Busch Stadium, which are both on Clark Street. With Baseball Village next to Busch Stadium, I think folks are seeing the potential for a lot of sports dollars flowing into downtown in a way that even football doesn't quite match. A Clark Street Sports district has nice ring to it, and plays up St. Louis' sports culture.

But, to bring this back to topic, does this kill the NFL in St. Louis, if it comes to fruition? does the NFL decide to muscle in? Or is St. Louis just not that big of a deal?

Jayhawker wrote:

But, to bring this back to topic, does this kill the NFL in St. Louis, if it comes to fruition? does the NFL decide to muscle in? Or is St. Louis just not that big of a deal?

Short term, no, the NFL isn't going anywhere near St. Louis. The city proved incapable of keeping up the stadium, and city leaders (to their credit) couldn't be blackmailed into bankruptcy.

Long term, some mayoral candidate will win election based on the promise of bringing the NFL back to St. Louis, and the whole thing will play out all over again, especially if the NFL decides to expand to 36 or (shudder) 40.

Enix wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

But, to bring this back to topic, does this kill the NFL in St. Louis, if it comes to fruition? does the NFL decide to muscle in? Or is St. Louis just not that big of a deal?

Short term, no, the NFL isn't going anywhere near St. Louis. The city proved incapable of keeping up the stadium, and city leaders (to their credit) couldn't be blackmailed into bankruptcy.

Long term, some mayoral candidate will win election based on the promise of bringing the NFL back to St. Louis, and the whole thing will play out all over again, especially if the NFL decides to expand to 36 or (shudder) 40.

Are there any other really untenable stadium situations these days? Those are typically the driver for relocation. Minnesota got a new stadium, St. Louis and San Diego appear to be moving on, the Raiders certainly wouldn't go to St. Louis, and I can't think of a whole lot of notably run-down stadiums right now where teams might move. The Bills are apparently staying, the Bengals have a ridiculously good deal from the county where they make loads of money in their older stadium, the Jaguars . . . have a pool?

St. Louis probably gets one someday during expansion, but it feels like the constant threats of "new stadium or else" are going to slow down for a bit after the Chargers/Raiders situations are worked out.

The Bengals stadium opened in 2000, not really that old.

But yes, I agree, the St Louis government should be commended for refusing to fund a stadium with tax money. I just wish the rest of the cities had the same principles.

Oh, St. Louis is not that off the hook. It was trying.

Basically, St. Louis built an utter disaster of a dome. It really was terrible from day one. Then it put in the asinine clause that gave the Rams an easy out, staring that the stadium had to be in the top 25% of stadium in 2014. All Kroenke saw was an easy path to LA.

Arriwhead was built in 1972, has seen renovations, and is still a great stadium. I'm sure it's not elite in many aspects, but it is a fantastic game day experience. It helps that its location and being an outdoor venue makes it easier to expand and improve.

I'm all for downtown sports, but I do think football is an exception. I think suburban stadiums with plenty of land for its own parking makes the most sense. It's what has helped keep Arrowhead alive.

I kind of wish the everyone was more focused on an NBA team to share the Scottrade Center with the Blues, but I think st. Louis is still too racist to embrace the NBA.

I don't see the NBA moving a team there anyway. The last two teams who could have moved were Milwaukee and Sacremento(who both needed new stadiums for the team), but they both managed to get long term deals done with their cities/states. Plus, if the NBA's going to move a team anywhere, it'll be Seattle first.

I wouldnt be shocked if once 2020 rolls around some of the "new" stadiums built in the late 90's early 2000's are now suddenly portrayed by ownership as "old" and "unworkable" to jockey cities into trying to build bigger complexes that owners can jam all sorts of addons into to make more money.