Training camp scuffles are an expected thing. Fred Warner starts some pretty much every year in 49ers camp, including yesterday with some of the receivers, but generally everyone's chill with each other right after.
New Orleans' first round pick, offensive tackle Trevor Penning, however, is something different. He was kicked out of Saints practice today, after having apparently gotten into fights with Saints defenders in three straight days of practice.
Same guy started a bunch of near-fights at the Senior Bowl this year.
It might not surprise you that Penning led the nation in penalties for offensive linemen last year, and had a high rate of penalties throughout his career.
Sounds like a New Orleans Saint to me. If Gregggggggg was still there, he'd probably make Penning switch to defense.
Listen, people, everybody knows you do NOT f*ck with people who went to the University of Northern Iowa. Also, Penning is a douche and I'm glad he's on the Saints. Keep it up, asshat!
"I, Roger Goodell, am appealing the Watson ruling to Roger Goodell."
Apparently he's serious about it too.
Reports: NFL seeking indefinite suspension of at least one year for Deshaun Watson
And again, the topic of hitting him monetarily through imposing a fine has popped up:
Now comes word, via multiple reports, that the league wants an indefinite suspension of at least a year for Watson as well as a fine.
The union turned down the league's negotiation offer of 12 games and an $8 mil fine. I think they may come to regret that decision.
Meanwhile Jimmy Haslam says sorry you're triggered. Oh, my bad, he actually didn't say sorry. And he says Watson is remorseful, which is a lie.
That's the part that shocked me.
Them: "We know Deshaun is remorseful that this situation has caused much heartache to many"
THE LITERAL ARBITRATOR WHOSE STATEMENT THAT SAY THEY RESPECT:
Robinson, however, wrote in her report that one of the aggravating factors in determining Watson's discipline was his "lack of expressed remorse."
Man, how soft would her punishment of Watson have been if he had spit out some half-assed "remorse" statements? 4 games? 2?
Watson's camp thought six games was too much because he didn't do anything wrong. May he be nuked from orbit and his inevitable lawsuit just drag on long enough to drain as much of his money as possible before being thrown out of court.
May he be nuked from orbit
Let's rock.
I had to go look it up, but it looks like Jared Allen's single season sack record of 22 has held since 2011. This seems like a pretty impressive feat considering how the seasons are longer and teams pass more now than ever before. It doesn't feel like a record that stands a great chance of remaining unbroken in the future.
I have no idea who this Irishman is, but he definitely seems to know how to pick apart game tape.
Via Twitter, an NFL writer puts together a list of "most deserving eligible players from each team who were not in the Hall of Fame on the day of the Hall of Fame game."
Some local interest picks:
Jags: WR Jimmy Smith
Panthers: WR Steve Smith
Bucs: CB Ronde Barber
Pats: G Logan Mankins
Eagles: E Pete Retzlaff
Ravens: WR Derrick Mason
49ers: LB Patrick Willis
Seahawks: RB Ricky Watters
Willis and Barber probably make the 2023 class.
Jimmy Smith I feel like is going to end up in the same bucket as Henry Ellard, the "explosive guys anyone with eyes would rather have over Art Monk, but didn't play on a Super Bowl dynasty so f**k me I guess". I feel like Smith (and Fred Taylor) will eventually be Senior Committee picks.
Ricky Watters is in a similar situation, except it's the Bettis bucket for running backs. I also love that he was the pick for the Seahawks, even though his 5 Pro Bowls were split between San Francisco (3) and Philadelphia, and he won a ring in SF. Sure, let's put in a "Seahawk" that will be wearing red and gold.
Logan Mankins deserves to go straight in because FRESNO STATE. True story, I handled some of his school withdrawal paperwork when working my campus job while a grad student.
Steve Smith probably has the numbers to just crawl himself out of that Smith/Ellard bucket. 8th all time in receiving yardage, and he'll have a decent window before the next wave of stat-inflated receiver careers pass him by.
Derrick Mason doesn't really belong on the list IMO. I think he's firmly Hall of Very Good material.
Don't know much about Pete Retzlaff for Philly, but you know someone's old school when their position is simply, "end". But hey, they get a slice of the Ricky Watters pie.
Goodell has appointed someone not named Roger Goodell to handle the Watson appeal. It's Peter Harvey, who serves on the NFL's diversity panel and has been brought in by the league on various other things. It's safe to say that he'll make a perfectly good Goodell proxy.
Kliff Kinsgsbury had Kyler Murray call plays for the backup QBs in practice a few days ago.
A quote from Kliff stood out to me:
“I just wanted him to know that, hey, this shit ain’t easy,” Kingsbury said. “Every now and then, he starts shaking his head when I’m calling it in there, I’m like, ‘Alright big dog.'”
You know, I'm not so sure Kingsbury, who famously said before becoming an NFL coach that he would use the #1 overall pick on Murray if he had the pick (and then got the chance to do exactly that once Arizona hired him), is all that keen on the guy he so loudly championed a few years ago.
First play from scrimmage of the football year: tipped pass that Vegas catches for a big gain, plus roughing the passer by #1 overall pick Travon Walker.
Jags football is back.
Legion, are you still playing Weedle?
Not asking for any particular reason involving today's answer.
For some reason, Weddle autocorrected to Wheedle. I didn't notice the double-e so I only deleted the h. But, there has to be a Weedle, right?
First play from scrimmage of the football year: tipped pass that Vegas catches for a big gain, plus roughing the passer by #1 overall pick Travon Walker.
Jags football is back.
It's 20-0, the Jags' backup QB are averaging about 5.5 yards/attempt, and Jags RBs have 5 yards on 3 carries.
Jags football is back!
Legion, are you still playing Weedle?
Not asking for any particular reason involving today's answer.
Got it in 1! Still using Jimmy as my opening guess until he gets traded.
We have some details on the punishment options the league has in mind for Watson:
According to sources familiar with the appeal, the NFL is seeking one of two outcomes:
- Watson would be suspended indefinitely for one year. During that year, he would undergo an element of treatment related to the behavior established in his case. At the end of the year, Watson would apply for reinstatement and if he meets the league’s criteria, he will come back into the fold for the Browns. In this scenario, Watson wouldn’t be subject to a fine as part of his punishment. However, his contract in Cleveland would toll, essentially starting his five-year extension in 2023 rather than 2022.
That latter point is considerable, as it would effectively push Watson’s next contract out one year, erasing a season of earning power from his career.
- Watson would be subject to a significant fine if his suspension is ultimately less than one year. Similar to the first outcome, he would also have to undergo treatment during his suspension. Think of this scenario as mapping with the league’s last settlement volley in July, which would have suspended Watson 12 games and fined him something near the neighborhood of his 2021 salary of $10.5 million. It would be a considerable financial cost for Watson, but also one that ends with him returning to the NFL without having to apply for reinstatement or tolling his current contract for one year.
To me, the first option is the more severe. Pushing his contract out a year and making 2022 a void where he earns nothing would almost certainly have more of a financial impact on Watson in the long run than a $10.5m fine. I also think not playing football for 2 solid years would make a return to form that much harder a year from now, and I’m in favor of anything that makes Watson’s career harder. It also makes it more likely that the contract becomes an albatross around the neck of the Browns, and they deserve that too.
I also like that the first option puts Watson in a position to have to petition for reinstatement. And if the Browns are somehow good in 2022 and are in a position to make the playoffs, only the first option keeps Watson out of a potential playoff game.
Sadly, I think option number 2 is more likely.
I agree but at least option 2 is substantially more than 6 games. And I suppose the NFL would not appeal to just bring it up to 8 games or something like that.
Is there any time frame for when this appeal decision is supposed to happen?
When you have your leverage, go get your bag.
N'Keal Harry has a "severe" high ankle sprain, pretty much putting the brakes on him being any sort of help to the woeful Bears WR corps anytime soon.
Still surprised that Will Fuller hasn't been signed by anyone, but given that he's a vested veteran, I doubt anyone signs him until after Week 1, to avoid having to guarantee his 2022 salary.
The Bears Reddit is currently in "hey, it's Dante Pettis and Tajae Sharpe's time to step up" mode, in case you were wondering just how dire things are on the depth chart.
I honestly feel bad for N'Keal. I was hoping he could catch a break in Chicago.
I honestly feel bad for N'Keal. I was hoping he could catch a break in Chicago.
Would you take a sprain instead? If so, good news.
The Bears Reddit is currently in "hey, it's Dante Pettis and Tajae Sharpe's time to step up" mode, in case you were wondering just how dire things are on the depth chart.
Who?
The Panthers are reportedly shopping Sam Darnold for a trade.
The team would not confirm that their inquiry calls have each resulted in the other GM laughing for 20 seconds and then hanging up.
I honestly feel bad for N'Keal. I was hoping he could catch
Here's one for the Ravens fans.
PFF determines Justin Tucker to be worth a 1st round pick based on WAR.
They also find that kickers do produce a higher WAR than the average day 3 pick, so you could use that argument to justify drafting a kicker late, as on average you will get more value from that pick than who you would otherwise draft. But they're quick to also point out that the kicker option basically has no WAR upside, whereas drafting other positions late has the potential to land you a player who delivers significantly more value than the average.
And, of course, they point out that undrafted kickers aren't outperformed by drafted kickers on the whole, so you're just as likely to get that decent kicker WAR from a UDFA as you are a draft pick.
Mostly though, the point is that Tucker is the Gretzky of kickers. Maybe not quite so dramatic in terms of raw scoring just because of how clustered kicker production naturally is (you can't really double someone else's output when everyone gets roughly the same number of chances and the average success rate is 85%), but in the margins where kickers separate from each other, Tucker separates himself by about as much as is possible.
And, to echo my generic kicker point #1, Tucker wasn't drafted in the first place, so arguments about drafting a kicker are largely pointless. He made 40/48 FGs in college, so there was no indication he was going to be the GOAT kicker.
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