1 minute ago, RememberTheKoy said:

DeVonta Smith wasn't ****ing to the media and theough social media that he needed to be thrown thr ball more.

He did complain about the offense

29 minutes ago, paco said:

WTF, Lurie can't afford that!

It's just Big Dom with a new title.

1 hour ago, eglz1 said:

I doubt it's legally tampering unless there is direct contact between AJ and the Patriots. Is the intent there? Sure looks like it but it's pretty difficult to prove intent without documented contact I imagine. If somebody found emails, texts that sort of thing would be another story.

Vrabel was saying a month or two ago how he keeps in constant connection with AJ and they text each other through the season.

Just now, Mike030270 said:

He did complain about the offense

Not about his targets to the media and on social media.

Just now, RememberTheKoy said:

Not about his targets to the media and on social media.

So it's ok to complain as long as you're not complaining about targets? Your hate has blinded you

4 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

So it's ok to complain as long as you're not complaining about targets? Your hate has blinded you

Definitely not blinded with science

2 hours ago, MF POON said:

The size of the industry is exactly why they get paid what they make. I see they're in a contract dispute now, but I still find the current salary/raises to be a lot of money for the amount of work/time involved. Anything more is just greed, imo. Also, refs aren't exactly the highlight of the sport. No one is tuning into an NFL game and saying, "I can't wait to see these refs make some calls today."

Compare NFL refs to MLB umps. NFL refs make almost the same (and in some cases, do) amount of money an ump does, while working around 20 games a season. Compare that to an ump that calls 100+ games. Even if we include all the stuff refs do throughout the week like film study, training, etc., they don't even do half the amount of work. I still don't see the need for them to make much more than what they do.

The ref's request for a raise is in line with the increase in salary cap space which is connected to revenue. The total dollar amount is insignificant in the scheme of things. The NFL should agree to their increase in order to have playoff games called by refs with the best evaluations rather than seniority. This has to be a negotiated agreement because refs are unionized. The NFL seems like it would rather pay replacement refs than agree to the increase in salary which is overall a 7 figure number in total when looking at the differences between their proposals.

56 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

How does the NFLPA not file a grievance over Jerry doing this? It's ridiculous.

There is no rule against the owner working or talking directly to a player. A smart player would just say "Work with my agent" and walk away. The rules in the CBA state that whoever the team/owner representative is working with must either be the player themself OR a certified agent for the player.

NFLPA should work on some changes the next CBA cycle to eliminate owners/GMs talking directly to a player if the player has an agent, but as of right now there isn't a rule against it (that I can find anyway). The bigger issue they dealt with recently was non-certified agents trying to represent players in negotiations, they put a stop to that from a rule perspective, has it actually stopped non-certified agents from talking to teams, idk...I doubt it is enforced.

15 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

I just strongly disagree that they have a path back. I feel that every single metric suggests that Barkley was less effective as a runner.

I think we are asking the offense to defy gravity and physics by believing that Barkley can still be that effective and that we can get pro-bowl seasons out of Dickerson and Jurgens.

I see an over-the-hill RB, a below average OL, and one good WR that could be two if they don't trade Brown.

Barkley was fine last year when the O line blocked well. Dickerson and Jurgens were banged up and shouldn't have been playing. They couldn't even run the tush push effectively and the only different factor was the interior O line. Plus Patullo was a moron.

Healthy O line and better play calling: Barkley and Bigsby should feast.

Smitty is better than just "good." Hollywood is fine as a #2 (if they trade Brown) and they have Goedert as a receiving target still who had 11 TDs last year. We'll see if they draft someone as well.

O line and coaching were last year's problems. We'll find out in August if both are improved.

6 minutes ago, NOTW said:

Barkley was fine last year when the O line blocked well. Dickerson and Jurgens were banged up and shouldn't have been playing. They couldn't even run the tush push effectively and the only different factor was the interior O line. Plus Patullo was a moron.

Healthy O line and better play calling: Barkley and Bigsby should feast.

Smitty is better than just "good." Hollywood is fine as a #2 (if they trade Brown) and they have Goedert as a receiving target still who had 11 TDs last year. We'll see if they draft someone as well.

O line and coaching were last year's problems. We'll find out in August if both are improved.

And I say this goes immeasurably beyond wishful thinking.

6 minutes ago, Joe Ball said:

There is no rule against the owner working or talking directly to a player. A smart player would just say "Work with my agent" and walk away. The rules in the CBA state that whoever the team/owner representative is working with must either be the player themself OR a certified agent for the player.

NFLPA should work on some changes the next CBA cycle to eliminate owners/GMs talking directly to a player if the player has an agent, but as of right now there isn't a rule against it (that I can find anyway). The bigger issue they dealt with recently was non-certified agents trying to represent players in negotiations, they put a stop to that from a rule perspective, has it actually stopped non-certified agents from talking to teams, idk...I doubt it is enforced.

I assumed it would be based more on ethics. Ignoring the agent and trying to get a deal done with the player is pretty grimy behavior

25 minutes ago, Joe Ball said:

Good stuff. That Jerry GIF is priceless and very true in how he thinks of Cowboy fans.

Painter and Martone both with big debuts today. It's gonna be Pandamartoneiam

This BG PC reminds me of the time the Eagles were supposed to honor nick Foles at half time.

He was an honorary captain for the coin toss at the game. Nowhere to be seen at halftime. No ceremony. No announcement. Nothing. Instead, we got to see Jason Avant salsa dancing as the halftime show.

Still nothing new. Are the Patriots going to cave and give a 1st(2027) and 2nd? That's what this ultimately comes down to. People must seem to think they will if they believe it's inevitable.

39 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

So it's ok to complain as long as you're not complaining about targets? Your hate has blinded you

My hatred? Lmao. Hilarious how the people who will find literally anything and everything at all to **** about the QB are also the ones who want to end over backwards for a player who openly dogged it on the field last year costing the Eagles games and now wants to be traded.

2 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

My hatred? Lmao. Hilarious how the people who will find literally anything and everything at all to **** about the QB are also the ones who want to end over backwards for a player who openly dogged it on the field last year costing the Eagles games and now wants to be traded.

AJ will be traded after June 1st, I think most of us can agree on that

But I don't see Hurts on this team in 2027 either. Howie clearing out those caps and start fresh with a 2027 rookie QB contract.

Some team is going to get screwed by this.

18 minutes ago, Joe Ball said:

There is no rule against the owner working or talking directly to a player. A smart player would just say "Work with my agent and walk away". The rules in the CBA state that whoever the team/owner representative is working with with must either be the player themself OR a certified agent for the player.

NFLPA should work on some changes the next CBA cycle to eliminate owners/GMs talking directly to a player if the player has an agent, but as of right now there isn't a rule against it (that I can find anyway). The bigger issue they dealt with recently was non-certified agents trying to represent players in negotiations, they put a stop to that from a rule perspective, has it actually stopped non-certified agents from talking to teams, idk...I doubt it is enforced.

I get the rule says that but I would bet the agent has sent something in writing to Jerry saying all contract negotiations should come through the agent.

27 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

And I say this goes immeasurably beyond wishful thinking.

I'm somewhere in between your way of thinking and his. He's always overly optimistic. You seem to be on the other extreme. There's a happy middle of being cautiously optimistic. Offense doesn't have to that much improvement to be better than last year. With or without AJ. Seahawks lost Metcalf and were better off. See a similar possibility here...if...Howie continues upgrading here til September. Which again, I assume he will.

2 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Reality will set in soon for a lot of wishful thinkers here about compensation in an AJ deal. There's probably one real bidder here. In the history of sports or business, this usually favors the buyer, not the seller. I thought Howie had leverage. No not in this situation, if you can see it objectively. Funny stuff I read in here. I'm happy with Waddle value here if Howie can get it. About 700 points on the Jimmy Johnson chart. That's it.

21 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

My hatred? Lmao. Hilarious how the people who will find literally anything and everything at all to **** about the QB are also the ones who want to end over backwards for a player who openly dogged it on the field last year costing the Eagles games and now wants to be traded.

Yes your hatred