NFL 2018 Offseason Thread

Apparently Jim Mora, Josh Rosen's HC from UCLA, said he thought Sam Darnold would be the best pick for the Browns at number 1 with Rosen then going next to whoever. Peter King sums it up nicely:

Mora coached Rosen for three years. Rosen and Darnold are competing to be the top player picked in this draft. Oh, and Darnold played for UCLA’s archrival. Was Mora trying to slap the free-spirited Rosen with some tough love? Was Mora taking this TV analyst neutral-party thing very seriously and simply telling the truth as he sees it? Or was Mora trying to help his old quarterback avoid Cleveland and land with the Giants and a quarterback mentor he trusts, Pat Shurmur, at number two?
I have never heard of anything like this, even with the Giants/Jets note following what Mora said first. When Mark Sanchez declared for the draft after the 2008 season at USC, coach Pete Carroll was critical of the decision, saying he thought Sanchez should stay in school. That’s a little different, though, than saying the quarterback of your archrival should be picked above your own guy. That’s not going to help Rosen’s cause at the top of the draft.

Crazy.

///

In other news, the Raiders cutting P Marquette King still makes little sense to me. Gruden supposedly wanted him gone because of his antics (ie. drawing a couple penalties a year), which I can understand, but don't you think you want to try and coach him first?

Clearly Reggie McKenzie sided with his newly signed head coach on the issue, but damned if this doesn't smell a lot like Gruden coming in to put his stamp of poor coaching (per Milkman) on the team.

The worrisome thing for Raiders fans is Gruden wasn't bad at coaching; he was bad at personnel decisions. He decided what players he liked for reasons unrelated to on-the-field performance, would alienate veterans on the team, and he'd stock the team with "his guys", who often weren't any good. So, this is basically pretty much what should be expected.

Gotcha, I will change my phrasing in the future. I expect Amari Cooper might be out of the picture when his rookie deal is up.

So what are the odds of a Gruden Bowl?
Ahahaha, yeah...
But that would be funny if Harbaugh came back to the NFL and we had a Gruden v Harbaugh v Gruden v Harbaugh championship

fangblackbone wrote:

So what are the odds of a Gruden Bowl?
Ahahaha, yeah...
But that would be funny if Harbaugh came back to the NFL and we had a Gruden v Harbaugh v Gruden v Harbaugh championship :)

Imma gonna guess not real good odds of a Gruden Bowl; Jon Gruden has been out of the league for a very, very long time, and his contract is so bizarre not even Al Davis would have thought of it. Jay Gruden is somehow still coach of the Redskins, a team that somehow manages to make their roster crappier and crappier every year.

I keep seeing the Raiders referred to as the "AARP Raiders". lololol

For the record, if CLE does take a QB at 1, I would prefer it be Rosen, but I am happy with whatever QB we get at 4, even if it is Allen.

Just please don't let us take Baker "Johnny Football V.2" Mayfield.

Is Baker Mayfield even allowed in the state of Ohio after the flag planting incident?

garion333 wrote:

Apparently Jim Mora, Josh Rosen's HC from UCLA, said he thought Sam Darnold would be the best pick for the Browns at number 1 with Rosen then going next to whoever.

Nothing new from baby Mora, who threw a little shade Myles Jack's way during his draft process.

(Funny to note the very last sentence of that Jack article is a link to Mora publicly criticizing his freshman QB, Josh Rosen)

Brandin Cooks to the Rams.

A year after trading pick #32 for Cooks, the Patriots trade Cooks away for pick #23.

Cooks is in his option year, so that's a 1st for a 1-year rental before he's a UFA. Kind of steep, unless they're looking to offer him a contract extension before the season. (Which I'm unsure if they are, because usually you negotiate that sh*t before executing the trade, making sure you and the player can come to terms ahead of time.)

The Rams are starting to feel a little bit Washington-ish, or Philly "Dream Team". And now they're loaded with guys that all need new contracts after this year: Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley, and Lamarcus Joyner (playing this year on the franchise tag) were already in that situation, along with some lesser players, and now add in Suh, Cooks, and Marcus Peters.

They're going all in this year, because next year, it's going to be pain trying to retain these guys.

*Legion* wrote:

A year after trading pick #32 for Cooks, the Patriots trade Cooks away for pick #23.

Cooks is in his option year, so that's a 1st for a 1-year rental before he's a UFA. Kind of steep, unless they're looking to offer him a contract extension before the season. (Which I'm unsure if they are, because usually you negotiate that sh*t before executing the trade, making sure you and the player can come to terms ahead of time.)

The Rams are starting to feel a little bit Washington-ish, or Philly "Dream Team". And now they're loaded with guys that all need new contracts after this year: Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley, and Lamarcus Joyner (playing this year on the franchise tag) were already in that situation, along with some lesser players, and now add in Suh, Cooks, and Marcus Peters.

They're going all in this year, because next year, it's going to be pain trying to retain these guys.

Did they sign Suh with any real expectation to try and keep him?

Of the deals they have done that one seemed like the most obvious we have cash let's rent this guy. Upside Suh murders all the other NFC West QBs. Downside they are out 14m and maybe screw up their front line chemistry? Seems like there is way more upside even if it was an extremely redundant add.

jowner wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

A year after trading pick #32 for Cooks, the Patriots trade Cooks away for pick #23.

Cooks is in his option year, so that's a 1st for a 1-year rental before he's a UFA. Kind of steep, unless they're looking to offer him a contract extension before the season. (Which I'm unsure if they are, because usually you negotiate that sh*t before executing the trade, making sure you and the player can come to terms ahead of time.)

The Rams are starting to feel a little bit Washington-ish, or Philly "Dream Team". And now they're loaded with guys that all need new contracts after this year: Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley, and Lamarcus Joyner (playing this year on the franchise tag) were already in that situation, along with some lesser players, and now add in Suh, Cooks, and Marcus Peters.

They're going all in this year, because next year, it's going to be pain trying to retain these guys.

Did they sign Suh with any real expectation to try and keep him?

Of the deals they have done that one seemed like the most obvious we have cash let's rent this guy. Upside Suh murders all the other NFC West QBs. Downside they are out 14m and maybe screw up their front line chemistry? Seems like there is way more upside even if it was an extremely redundant add.

That there Suh money is actually Aaron Donald money. Next year.

jowner wrote:

Did they sign Suh with any real expectation to try and keep him?

Of the deals they have done that one seemed like the most obvious we have cash let's rent this guy. Upside Suh murders all the other NFC West QBs. Downside they are out 14m and maybe screw up their front line chemistry? Seems like there is way more upside even if it was an extremely redundant add.

Well a few days ago, they were saying they are "open" to extending Suh, depending on how he plays. So I've got him penciled in alongside the rest of their 2019 UFAs to be.

!!!!!RAVENS SIGN RG3!!!!!

It didn't work with the New Browns, maybe with the Old Browns?

Does anyone know if he still has his place in DC?

RG3 was a talented guy that lived on a bubble that burst hugly big time.
I hope they have someone on staff astute at rebuilding confidence.

fangblackbone wrote:

RG3 was a talented guy that lived on a bubble that burst hugly big time.
I hope they have someone on staff astute at rebuilding confidence.

Confidence nothing... just get him to a mental place where he will accept coaching from someone not named Griffin (father or self)

Shoulda signed Kaepernick.

*Legion* wrote:

Shoulda signed Kaepernick.

I would have preferred this, if only to see the meltdown in my fiancée's extended family.

Reddit on why the Ravens chose RG3 over Kaepernick:

The real reason is because RG3's knees are so messed up by now that the Ravens know he wont be able to kneel.
*Legion* wrote:

Reddit on why the Ravens chose RG3 over Kaepernick:

The real reason is because RG3's knees are so messed up by now that the Ravens know he wont be able to kneel.

That's cold.

But I'm baffled by this move. According to an article in The Guardian:

But Griffin was beset by a litany of injuries that included tears to his ACL, LCL and meniscus, an LCL sprain, a dislocated ankle, a concussion and a shoulder fracture.

So the Ravens have hired a running QB is who is unlikely to be able to run any more, and who hasn't actually done any QBing since 2016? I know the contract will hugely favourable to the team, but I don't understand what they think RGIII will be able to do if he ever takes the field.

On that subject of the contract, how exactly does one structure a contract for someone in RGIII's position? Minimum salary presumably, but what incentives are likely to be in place?

As a longsuffering Raven's fan, the only thing I can hope for is that it is one of those early offseason "outside the box" thought experiments like Bellicheat's one month brain fart with Tim Tebow.

detroit20 wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

Reddit on why the Ravens chose RG3 over Kaepernick:

The real reason is because RG3's knees are so messed up by now that the Ravens know he wont be able to kneel.

That's cold.

But I'm baffled by this move. According to an article in The Guardian:

But Griffin was beset by a litany of injuries that included tears to his ACL, LCL and meniscus, an LCL sprain, a dislocated ankle, a concussion and a shoulder fracture.

So the Ravens have hired a running QB is who is unlikely to be able to run any more, and who hasn't actually done any QBing since 2016? I know the contract will hugely favourable to the team, but I don't understand what they think RGIII will be able to do if he ever takes the field.

And yet he's already a better backup than Ryan Mallett.

Anyone signing RGIII would be an inexplicable move, but a team like the Ravens whose QB, you know, absolutely sucks makes even less sense. I mean, finding a backup QB who is almost undoubtedly worse than Flacco takes work.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Anyone signing RGIII would be an inexplicable move, but a team like the Ravens whose QB, you know, absolutely sucks makes even less sense. I mean, finding a backup QB who is almost undoubtedly worse than Flacco takes work.

Maybe we are thinking about it all wrong. He is, after all, the winningest Browns QB for the last two years.

Paleocon wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Anyone signing RGIII would be an inexplicable move, but a team like the Ravens whose QB, you know, absolutely sucks makes even less sense. I mean, finding a backup QB who is almost undoubtedly worse than Flacco takes work.

Maybe we are thinking about it all wrong. He is, after all, the winningest Browns QB for the last two years.

Paleocon wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Anyone signing RGIII would be an inexplicable move, but a team like the Ravens whose QB, you know, absolutely sucks makes even less sense. I mean, finding a backup QB who is almost undoubtedly worse than Flacco takes work.

Maybe we are thinking about it all wrong. He is, after all, the winningest Browns QB for the last two years.

RGIII won just as many Super Bowls as Tom Brady last year.

*Legion* wrote:

Shoulda signed Kaepernick.

Likely the real reason they didn't sign Kaep, other than the drama (which is the REAL real reason), is that Kaepernick is a better QB than Flacco and they don't want anyone pushing Flacco out of his spot. Or at least they don't want the backup QB being better in practice and giving fans something to use to start a controversy. Hence why they kept Mallett so long. He was never gonna start.

My completely out of nowhere guess is the Ravens are hoping Lamar Jackson falls to them and RG3 can teach him that yes, sliding is an important art.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

RGIII won just as many Super Bowls as Tom Brady last year.

And Bortles. Combined.