35 minutes ago, Wentz_Era said:

There’s so many unwritten rules in the game…I think you buzz that first pitch of the game behind Acuna’s ear tonight. If wheeler gets tossed so be it, its 28 May not late August/early Sept.

Why do it right off the bat? Patience. Every game could matter come Sept.

46 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Will cheap owners get their way?

The owners all claim they want parity. But more than that, what they really want is to not get any heat for being cheap. The Bengals, Raiders, even the Cowboys, don't want to shell out the money that Lurie does, so they are likely going to try to make the cap a 'harder' cap. I don't think it will greatly change the way the deals are currently structured. Just instead of 'void' years, Howie can just tack on some salary for those dummy years and still cut the players as he has been, as long as there is no guaranteed salary in those years, I don't see what would be different in that versus the void years.

1 hour ago, BDawk_ASamuel said:

They also won like five or so games on the last play of the game last season. Not sure if that’s a consistent strategy.

There's a reason Vegas has the over/under on Washington at 9.5 games despite all the national media hype. There's basically a bunch of reasons to doubt them.

1. They weren't nearly as good as their 12-5 record and NFCCG appearance indicated last year -- As you said, they had a ton of last minute wins, a bunch against bad teams. The Hail Mary against Chicago. Last second over the Kenny Pickett Eagles. Needed to stop a 2 point conversion against the Spencer Rattler/Jake Haener led Saints. OT win against the Falcons and a rookie QB. And needed Mariota to beat the Cowboys in week 18 after being down at the half. Then they beat TB on a last second FG in the Wildcard round. The game everyone got excited about -- they beat a Lions team with no defense and an offense that turned the ball over 5 times (Jared Goff brain fart).

2. Jayden Daniels was great, and yet is massively overhyped -- It's basically a consensus among the national media that Daniels had "the greatest rookie QB season ever!" Well, he had a 100.1 QB rating, 7.4 YPA, just under 3,600 yards and 25 TDs. Well, let's see -- in 2023, CJ was 100.8, 8.2 YPA, over 4,100 yards and 23 TDs and won a playoff game. In 2022 Brock Purdy was 96.1, 8.5 YPA, almost 3,900 yards and 20 TDs and made the NFCCG. So let's pump the brakes a little as he was basically the same as CJ and Brock.

3. They had an objectively TERRIBLE offseason -- Deebo Samuel is just not good anymore, and they traded for him and will pay him $17mm this year. They brought back Ertz and Wagner hoping to squeeze one more year out of each (Howie made this mistake 2018-2020). They brought in Tunsil, who led the league in penalties and played LT for the team that gave up the 4th most sacks in the NFL. But the real problem -- they somehow made the 30th ranked run defense in the NFL worse by losing Jonathan Allen and bringing in Javon Kinlaw. They gave up 7 rushing TDs in the NFCCG, and the reaction was to get worse at playing the run??????????

This is a 7-8 win team.

1 hour ago, NCiggles said:

St. Louis, the best NFL town of the towns without NFL teams.

Florio can be cynical with the best of them.

He’s definitely an "acquired taste.”

13 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

The owners all claim they want parity. But more than that, what they really want is to not get any heat for being cheap. The Bengals, Raiders, even the Cowboys, don't want to shell out the money that Lurie does, so they are likely going to try to make the cap a 'harder' cap. I don't think it will greatly change the way the deals are currently structured. Just instead of 'void' years, Howie can just tack on some salary for those dummy years and still cut the players as he has been, as long as there is no guaranteed salary in those years, I don't see what would be different in that versus the void years.

His strategy is kicking the can since the cap increases. I would think they'd have to set a permanent max to screw up Howie's cap management

Though the league needs to do something since QB contracts keep increasing

1 hour ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Will cheap owners get their way?

They have to get the NFLPA to agree to write it into the next Agreement. Fat chance of that happening. The Howie system gets the players more cash faster.

8 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

His strategy is kicking the can since the cap increases. I would think they'd have to set a permanent max to screw up Howie's cap management

Though the league needs to do something since QB contracts keep increasing

The simple answer is to eliminate the kicking of the can and the signing bonus money... just make it cost in reality what it says on paper. Guaranteed contracts, etc. Just like all the other leagues... except, the NFL is the only league that's actually doing well and where you aren't scuttled for years by bad contracts. It takes a little time to dig out, but not an eternity like it does in the other sports.

Patullo is too smooth in his PC. I'm worried lol

41 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

Why do it right off the bat? Patience. Every game could matter come Sept.

Bryce has been hit 3 times recently with no response. Gotta do it today. League has to know we will protect our stars by going after theirs. So far, we've let the league have its way.

https://nbcsportsphilly.app.link/KkGTPNe4JTb

29 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

There's a reason Vegas has the over/under on Washington at 9.5 games despite all the national media hype. There's basically a bunch of reasons to doubt them.

1. They weren't nearly as good as their 12-5 record and NFCCG appearance indicated last year -- As you said, they had a ton of last minute wins, a bunch against bad teams. The Hail Mary against Chicago. Last second over the Kenny Pickett Eagles. Needed to stop a 2 point conversion against the Spencer Rattler/Jake Haener led Saints. OT win against the Falcons and a rookie QB. And needed Mariota to beat the Cowboys in week 18 after being down at the half. Then they beat TB on a last second FG in the Wildcard round. The game everyone got excited about -- they beat a Lions team with no defense and an offense that turned the ball over 5 times (Jared Goff brain fart).

2. Jayden Daniels was great, and yet is massively overhyped -- It's basically a consensus among the national media that Daniels had "the greatest rookie QB season ever!" Well, he had a 100.1 QB rating, 7.4 YPA, just under 3,600 yards and 25 TDs. Well, let's see -- in 2023, CJ was 100.8, 8.2 YPA, over 4,100 yards and 23 TDs and won a playoff game. In 2022 Brock Purdy was 96.1, 8.5 YPA, almost 3,900 yards and 20 TDs and made the NFCCG. So let's pump the brakes a little as he was basically the same as CJ and Brock.

3. They had an objectively TERRIBLE offseason -- Deebo Samuel is just not good anymore, and they traded for him and will pay him $17mm this year. They brought back Ertz and Fletcher hoping to squeeze one more year out of each (Howie made this mistake 2018-2020). they brought in Tunsil, who led the league in penalties and played LT for the team that gave up the 4th most sacks in the NFL. But the real problem -- they somehow made the 30th ranked run defense in the NFL worse by losing Jonathan Allen and bringing in Javon Kinlaw. They gave up 7 rushing TDs in the NFCCG, and the reaction was to get worse at playing the run??????????

This is a 7-8 win team.

Great post, I'll push back on (3) just a little.

I'll give you credit that the guys they brought in all have some question marks. However, I like what they did on offense.

I'm not sure what Deebo Samuel really brings at this point in his career, but they replaced Diyami Brown with Deebo Samuel, so that at the very least is a lateral move and quite possibly an improvement. Ertz was clearly their team leader last year. They had to bring him back. Honestly, I don't know what plan B was there? If we let Goedert go, there's a decent chance he would have ended up in Washington. Tunsil + their 1st round draft pick should improve their line.

1 hour ago, Diehardfan said:

Why do it right off the bat? Patience. Every game could matter come Sept.

If that ball was a few centimeters off from where it hit the games wouldn’t matter through Sep. You send a message that you aren’t going to put up with it.

1 minute ago, EricAllenPick6 said:

Great post, I'll push back on (3) just a little.

I'll give you credit that the guys they brought in all have some question marks. However, I like what they did on offense.

I'm not sure what Deebo Samuel really brings at this point in his career, but they replaced Diyami Brown with Deebo Samuel, so that at the very least is a lateral move and quite possibly an improvement. Ertz was clearly their team leader last year. They had to bring him back. Honestly, I don't know what plan B was there? If we let Goedert go, there's a decent chance he would have ended up in Washington. Tunsil + their 1st round draft pick should improve their line.

Yeah, but their offense was already pretty good. Their issues are on defense, where they somehow managed to get worse. And while I agree Ertz is a leader, expecting him to be healthy for 17 games is a real stretch - he played 10 games in 2022, and 7 in 2023, before playing all 17 last year. Wagner (I wrote Fletcher thinking of another over the hill LB Washington had) has been healthy, but betting on a couple 34 year old players to be significant contributors...

Also, are we really sure Deebo isn't a downgrade from Brown?

San Francisco 49ers On SI

The 49ers Can't Create Separation

Kyle Shanahan really Kyle'd on Sunday. The 49ers lost to the Seahawks, blowing their 3rd 4th Quarter lead to a division rival. It was a tough loss in which the

Now we can get to the receiver core, and it isn't pretty. If you look at the Next Gen Stats page, you have to scroll down about a third of the page to get to George Kittle, but the receivers? You have to go all the way to the bottom of the page. Deebo Samuel is sitting near the bottom with a 2.6 SEP, meanwhile, Jauan Jennings is at 2.5. Both of these players are combined to have a $20 Million Cap Hit in 2025, and both are well below the league average in SEP. That is unacceptable. They are below names like Alec Pierce, Darius Slayton, and Darnell Mooney. Yes, Darnell Mooney is creating more separation than both of the 49ers' key WRs. A falloff like that is unexplainable and inexcusable, and all it does is put Brock Purdy into positions where he needs to scramble like a chicken with its head cut off, just to maintain positive yardage. It's almost like that's been the story of the season.

25 minutes ago, EricAllenPick6 said:

Great post, I'll push back on (3) just a little.

I'll give you credit that the guys they brought in all have some question marks. However, I like what they did on offense.

I'm not sure what Deebo Samuel really brings at this point in his career, but they replaced Diyami Brown with Deebo Samuel, so that at the very least is a lateral move and quite possibly an improvement. Ertz was clearly their team leader last year. They had to bring him back. Honestly, I don't know what plan B was there? If we let Goedert go, there's a decent chance he would have ended up in Washington. Tunsil + their 1st round draft pick should improve their line.

The separation thing is even more of a thing with Deebo because he was #1 or #1A in an offense that was specifically designed to get him open. Shanahan is (well, supposed to be anyway) one of the best offensive minds in the game. He's good enough at it that he can take someone like Brock Purdy at the ass end of the draft and make him look respectable.

If he's still struggling in a great offensive setup like that...oof.

Think this means he's gone (posted in wrong thread before oops)

I think Howie is the best in the biz, but I still can't see him getting someone to take Huff's contract ($16.75mm cash due in 2025, fully guaranteed).

Reed is in good standing with org and does media so reading tea leaves maybe contract is close and he doesn't want to risk injury

1 minute ago, vikas83 said:

I think Howie is the best in the biz, but I still can't see him getting someone to take Huff's contract ($16.75mm cash due in 2025, fully guaranteed).

In theory he could redo it and pay some as upfront bonus and receiving team only on hook for smaller portion

I don't think it means Huff is gone. I think it means he doesn't want to be here. As I said during last season if they don't trade him they could have an issue on their hands. They're essentially wasting two years of a guy's career and hurting his future earning potential by not playing him. I think he's very unhappy he's here and they don't play him and he's going to do what all unhappy guys do, skip all the voluntary stuff.

Wonder what Dickerson's knee injury actually was because he never got surgery.