NFL Thread

[aujeff11 6,243]

On 11/12/2018 at 6:45 AM, aubearcat said:

Saints are about to sign Brandon Marshall. I’m going to take a shot in the dark on him in my league. 

Just another day in the office. I’m one receiver away from being “I’m amazing.”

[aubearcat 2,137]

On 11/12/2018 at 7:00 AM, aujeff11 said:

Just another day in the office. I’m one receiver away from being “I’m amazing.”

I’m at over 140 in my work League with Alshon, Kupp, and Tre’Quan doing squat. I did however have Kamara, Brees, Chubb, Ertz, Butker, and 🐻. Other dude is done but I still have Breida going tonight. It’s a W but long term isn’t looking too sporty. 

[aujeff11 6,243]

1 minute ago, aubearcat said:

I’m at over 140 in my work League with Alshon, Kupp, and Tre’Quan doing squat. I did however have Kamara, Brees, Chubb, Ertz, Butker, and 🐻. Other dude is done but I still have Breida going tonight. It’s a W but long term isn’t looking too sporty. 

Nice: Losing Kupp is going to hurt. Tre Quan isn’t doing anything because the running game is so good. You could afford to find two different guys.

[NolaAuTiger 3,295]

11 hours ago, ellitor said:

Do we really need him? I feel bad for Dez but not sure why we signed him in the 1st place.

No, I was only being facetious. Dez would've given us a great third option at Wide Receiver. With Ginn out, we could use some more depth. 

[AU64 10,122]

Meanwhile....Browns not the worst record in the league.......who would have ever thought that?  

Mayfield pick looking a little better as the season wears on. 

[ellitor 33,093]

2 hours ago, NolaAuTiger said:

With Ginn out, we could use some more depth. 

How long is he out?

[ellitor 33,093]

21 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Meanwhile....Browns not the worst record in the league.......who would have ever thought that?  

Most people. The Bills are thought to be the pro team Bama would have the best chance of beating but they don't have the worst record in the league either.

Pathetic game by the Falcons in a game they could not afford to lose BTW.

[aujeff11 6,243]

50 minutes ago, ellitor said:

How long is he out?

Til week 15 minimum.

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

Most people. The Bills are thought to be the pro team Bama would have the best chance of beating but they don't have the worst record in the league either.

Pathetic game by the Falcons in a game they could not afford to lose BTW.

Tank time for the Falcons. Well, not yet, but soon. 

[AU64 10,122]

2 hours ago, ellitor said:

Most people. The Bills are thought to be the pro team Bama would have the best chance of beating but they don't have the worst record in the league either.

Pathetic game by the Falcons in a game they could not afford to lose BTW.

I don't follow the NFL so was going on what I've heard about the past history for Cleveland and all the ,management turnover....but looks like might have improved a bit....maybe their draft picks have helped or some other teams like Oakland and Buffalo, Giants, etc....as you point out, have drifted lower. 

Took a quick look at the standings and hard to believe fans are supporting the dozen teams with 3 or fewer wins (out of 10 games).  Most of them only seem capable of beating each other.   Gotta be a serious die-hard fan to pay the prices and sit out in the cold watching those teams play.

What happened to all that parity the NFL used brag about?  

And can you believe Giants vs 49ers for Monday night football.?....amazed ESPN signed on for that dog ...unless they going to honor Kap during halftime. 

[aujeff11 6,243]

Here's why Le'Veon Bell's holdout could have a lasting impact on the NFL

Charles RobinsonNovember 11, 2018, 8:28 PM CST

 

Add another loser to the holdout saga between Le’Veon Bell and the Pittsburgh Steelers. This time, it’s the NFL at large – which has had a little-known contract loophole exposed in this whole mess.

In the latest twist in the ongoing impasse between Bell and the Steelers, it has become apparent the all-powerful NFL franchise tag has a weak spot — albeit one that can be exposed only if a player is willing to risk a massive amount of money to take advantage of it.

As it turns out, Bell is now positioned to be that player. And his standoff with the Steelers is close to illustrating exactly how that loophole could be used by players in the future.

Why teams loathe three straight franchise tags

In a nutshell: The collective-bargaining agreement allows consecutive franchise tags to be accrued by a player even if that player sits out an entire season. That means NFL players slapped with a second straight franchise tag (as Bell was in 2018) could refuse to report and the tag would still count.

Why is that significant? Because the salary formula in the CBA makes franchise tags wildly expensive when they are applied to a player three straight seasons. So even if Bell doesn’t show up to play in 2018, his next franchise tag by the Steelers will still be considered his third straight and be subject to an almost impossible salary hike of at least $25 million for the 2019 season.

To understand why this can be a leverage point for players and agents – and bad for NFL teams – you have to know the basics of the franchise tag. Which are:

• A player’s first franchise tag is a one-year deal that is the higher of two numbers: either 120 percent of their previous salary; or the average of the top five salaries at their position.

• A player’s second straight franchise tag is the same: 120 percent of the previous year’s salary; or the top five salaries at their position.

• A player’s third straight tag is significantly more expensive. It’s the higher of two numbers: 144 percent of the previous year’s salary; or the average of the league’s top-five highest quarterback salaries.

Teams do not want to ever get into a position where they have to consider paying a third straight franchise tag. The Washington Redskins were in that spot with quarterback Kirk Cousins and let him leave in free agency because the third consecutive tag was $34.5 million for one season.

The Steelers don’t want to be in that spot with Bell, since his salary would be the average of the NFL’s top five quarterback salaries: at least $25 million in 2019 (and likely more expensive than that).

This is why Bell has exposed something here with his holdout. It wasn’t widely known a player could skip a franchise-tagged season and still have it count toward that graduating pay scale. That could be a valuable reality for players in the future, while also giving NFL teams plenty to think about.

What it means is this: If an NFL player has already been tagged once and fears injury in a second straight tagged season (or simply thinks the tag isn’t rich enough), he could threaten to do precisely what Bell may do this week – skip the second tagged season entirely.

In theory, that could create a leverage point for agents at the negotiating table. One in which they say to an NFL team, “We want to do a contract extension. The player doesn’t want to play under another tag. If you tag him, he won’t show up this year and then you’ll still have to pay him the extremely expensive third tag one year from now.”

That threat of sitting out a second tagged season could motivate some teams to either do a contract extension after one tag or trade the player, rather than face the possibility he’ll do something like Bell is threatening. In reality, no team is going to want to pay for a third straight franchise tag. And if the player is willing to sit out a year to get to that tag, it puts all the leverage in the favor of that player.

For the strategy to work, a player has to be willing to give up one year of a franchise tag salary. That’s a steep price.

Bell appears to be on the verge of that, turning down this season’s $14.5 million and putting the Steelers in a position where they’ll have to consider the cost of tagging him again in 2019 and paying him more than $25 million next year. As it stands now, Pittsburgh does not appear inclined to do that, so Bell will likely hit free agency in 2019, just as he desired.

But again, it’s the act of Bell going through with this that is significant for agents and players. Prior to Bell, it was unthinkable a player would actually forgo an entire year of a franchise-tagged salary just to get to the point that a team had to let them go. Now? Bell is on the verge of doing just that. This makes it a little more real when an agent looks at a team and says “My player refuses to report for a second straight franchise-tag season. Either give him an extension now … or trade him … or prepare to go without him and then have to release him in a year because you don’t want to pay him the huge money for the third straight tag.”

In theory, it’s a powerful tool for agents and players to force the hand of an NFL team. In reality? Well, it takes a lot of guts and willingness to gamble away an entire season to pull it off.

As one agent said Sunday night, “For this to matter, a player has to be willing to sit out an entire year and give up all that money. What player is willing to do that?”

Le’Veon Bell appears willing. And from this point forward, other players who are just as frustrated could consider it, too.

 

[aujeff11 6,243]

3 hours ago, AU64 said:

And can you believe Giants vs 49ers for Monday night football.?....amazed ESPN signed on for that dog ...unless they going to honor Kap during halftime. 

I believe all teams have to share the lime light at least once on Monday. I think SNF has the option of flexing for the best matchups. I could be 100% wrong.

Bama and their nine draft picks couldn’t sniff a victory against any pro team full of draft picks though. It’s laughable to think otherwise. Not talking to you 

[aujeff11 6,243]

 

[AUDub 11,147]

I hadn't realized Ed Hochuli had retired. That's a damn shame. 

 

[aujeff11 6,243]

So this Nick Mullins guy from Spain Park looks legit against the Raiders and the Giants. One of the defenses is completely horrible but he’s doing good things.

[WFE12 9,191]

 

[ellitor 33,093]

13 hours ago, aujeff11 said:

Here's why Le'Veon Bell's holdout could have a lasting impact on the NFL

I'm perfectly fine if Bell holds out til the week after the Saints-Steelers game.

[aujeff11 6,243]

8 minutes ago, ellitor said:

I'm perfectly fine if Bell holds out til the week after the Saints-Steelers game.

If he doesn’t report by 4 today, he’s ineligible for the rest of the year.

[ellitor 33,093]

2 hours ago, aujeff11 said:

If he doesn’t report by 4 today, he’s ineligible for the rest of the year.

Gotcha. Sorry for not reading the article or looking into his sitch.

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

Quote

Mexico City field in horrible shape for Chiefs-Rams, moving game to L.A. is reportedly on the table

The playing surface at Estadio Azteca is not in very good shape

• 

• by John Breech

If there's one thing that might be able to stop the offensive explosion that everyone's expecting between the Chiefs and Rams next week, it's the horrid condition of the field at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. 

The playing surface is looking ugly, and apparently, the NFL is seriously concerned about the issue. According to NBC's Peter King, there's "significant worry" about the state of the unique hybrid surface, which is made up of a combination of grass and synthetic filler. 

The league is actually so concerned about the field situation that a crew will be checking things out on Monday and Tuesday to decide if anything needs to be done. According to ESPN.com, the game could potentially be moved to Los Angeles if the playing surface in Mexico City isn't up to NFL standards. A final decision is apparently expected at some point on Tuesday. 

"We are working closely with the field manager at Azteca Stadium and others to ensure that we have an NFL quality surface for our game," the league told the Associated Press in a statement. 

If the most recent pictures of the field are any indication, the NFL might just be better off tearing out the old surface and replacing it with something new. Azteca Stadium has been hosting multiple events over the past few months, including two big ones that have been held over the past week alone. 

On Nov. 7, Mexican television network Telehit held a gigantic concert at the stadium, and here's what things looked like during the concert.  

The problem for the NFL is that the concert left the playing surface in abysmal condition. Here's what the field looked like the day after the concert. 

View image on Twitter

Yahoo Sports

 

✔@YahooSports

 

 

The @EstadioAzteca field in Mexico City was left like this after a concert just nine days before the @RamsNFL and @Chiefs will play there

(@Migue_luk)

 

53

2:46 PM - Nov 10, 2018

 

 

That's definitely not a surface you want two NFL teams playing on. 

After the concert was over, the NFL still couldn't get into the stadium to fix things, and that's because Mexican soccer team Cruz Azul played at the venue on Saturday. After their 2-1 win over Lobos BUAP, the field looked like this. 

View image on Twitter

Ulises Harada@ulisesharada

 

 

Hey @ProFootballDoc this is the Aztec Stadium today. What are the risk for Rams/Chiefs players to play over there in a week?

 

35

5:03 PM - Nov 10, 2018

 

 

That field is in bad shape and it's safe to say that most NFL teams probably wouldn't be comfortable playing on that kind of surface. 

For Azteca Stadium, the real problem started earlier this year when the venue decided to tear out its natural grass field and replace it with the hybrid field that's currently there. According to ESPN.com, no one was really sure how the new field would hold up after hosting multiple soccer games and concerts (Note: It hasn't held up well). Not to mention, Mexico's rainy season has been rainier than normal, which has also been devastating for the field. 

With the Chiefs and the Rams set to kickoff on Nov. 19, the NFL basically has one week to get things figured out. The Chiefs-Rams game actually opened with the highest over/under in NFL history and let's just say that you might want to take the under if the field isn't in better condition by next Monday

 

Edited November 13, 2018 by Auburn Kev

[McLoofus 35,182]

Not to mention that stadium is at elevation and Mexico City suffers from absolutely brutal air pollution. It's a horrible place for any sporting event, unless you play for Mexico's national soccer team. 

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

 

 

[WFE12 9,191]

The whole point is to make money, right? 🤔

 

Edited November 13, 2018 by WFE12

[aujeff11 6,243]

3 minutes ago, WFE12 said:

The whole point is to make money, right? 🤔

 

Why has tbe formatting been getting screwed up lately? 

 

Bell got bad advice. He won’t get a mega deal like he wants.

[GwillMac6 20,671]