The Weird, Wacky and Awesome World of the NFL - General Banter thread V3

Itssoeasy

So it's June 23rd and while the NFL got their last season finished as planned before the virus hit fully so unlike other leagues it doesn't have to complete a season and unlike baseball it didn't have to delay a season start. I think fans being in stadiums should be taken as unlikely unless something drastically changes. There are rising cases again in several states and I wonder what the league considers a valid season in terms of numbers of games ? I mean the NFL has a small number of games to start with anyway so unlike sports it can't lose many.

Blut2

Looks like we've got an update of sorts on the fans situation:

The NFL will let teams set different attendance capacity limits when the schedule starts in August with the preseason, meaning some clubs could play in front of full, or nearly full stadiums and some before no fans. That could lead to questions about competitive equity, and whether the league should allow teams in empty or near-empty stadiums to pipe in crowd noise when the opposing team is on offense.

The league communicated to clubs that they follow local health COVID-19 guidelines on social distancing rules, which vary greatly state to state and are not always, arguably, in line with the trend line of local coronavirus cases. In other words, as of now, the NFL will not dictate capacity thresholds no matter the virus penetration on the ground.

“Attendance will be a state-by-state, county-by-county thing,” said one NFL source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of coronavirus planning in NFL. “It will not be a one size fits all.

https://theathletic.com/1888367/2020/06/23/nfl-to-allow-teams-to-set-varying-fan-capacity-levels-when-season-commences/

Shedite27

Blut2 wrote: »

Looks like we've got an update of sorts on the fans situation:



https://theathletic.com/1888367/2020/06/23/nfl-to-allow-teams-to-set-varying-fan-capacity-levels-when-season-commences/

Current hotspots are the southern states, the ones that have domes (Cardinals, Coyboys, Houston). Can't imagine them getting many inside those stadiums.

Blut2

Shedite27 wrote: »

Current hotspots are the southern states, the ones that have domes (Cardinals, Coyboys, Houston). Can't imagine them getting many inside those stadiums.

Maybe. You'd certainly hope that would be the case. But the Southern states are also the ones with the loosest restrictions, and the highest % of the population who completely disagree with masks, social distancing etc.

So if the NFL just goes with "follow the local rules" then who knows.

Realt Dearg Sec

Blut2 wrote: »

Maybe. You'd certainly hope that would be the case. But the Southern states are also the ones with the loosest restrictions, and the highest % of the population who completely disagree with masks, social distancing etc.

So if the NFL just goes with "follow the local rules" then who knows.

I wonder how comfortable people actually will be with the idea of going into crowded stadiums at full capacity. We saw last week in Tulsa that even the most hard-core opponents of things like distancing and masks are not, when push comes to shove, willing to put their lives on the line in terribly high numbers for that belief. I would imagine that if things keep going the way they have been in the south the last few weeks, and really high death counts start to follow from the current really high new case rates, people will be forced to start taking the pandemic seriously again, and there's no way they'll pack into stadiums. The decision to reopen these states so fast, and regardless of actual new case numbers, was incredibly irresponsible and one of the things that will be sacrificed on the altar of their impatience will probably be a proper NFL season. That's my prediction anyway.

Oat23

If you aren't following Jay Cutler's Instagram stories where he tries to catch the predator breaking into his yard and eating his beloved chickens during the night I don't know what you're doing with your life. Always said Very Cavallari should've been called Very Cutler. Born reality star.

Oat23

Oat23 wrote: »

If you aren't following Jay Cutler's Instagram stories where he tries to catch the predator breaking into his yard and eating his beloved chickens during the night I don't know what you're doing with your life. Always said Very Cavallari should've been called Very Cutler. Born reality star.

I tried to find it the other day and just kept getting pages for some meat head with the same name.

Oat23

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

I tried to find it the other day and just kept getting pages for some meat head with the same name.

His instagram username is ifjayhadinstagram

Think his ex used to run it for him but he got it in the divorce :pac:

I lost it when he posted the update sitting in his kids treehouse with night vision goggles on his head.. "Right guys..clearly things have escalated."

Thread of the saga so far here:

https://twitter.com/NBCSBears/status/1275919512500604928

Itssoeasy

Cam newton has signed a one year deal with the New England patriots.

el Fenomeno

Just over $1m before any incentives. Seems too good to pass up, so why not. As a Patriots fan, I'm cautious. As a Cam fan, I'm delighted.

The_Honeybadger

Good signing for the Pats. His health is a concern and probably always will be at this stage but for backup money you can’t go wrong bringing him in. Putting your season in Stidham’s hands with no credible plan B would have been very risky.

Glad Cam found a team, class act.

AbusesToilets

I hope he's healthy, just a great player when he's on form.

cosatron

if cam hits mvp form, the patriots will be a scary team next year

j8wk2feszrnpao

cosatron wrote: »

if cam hits mvp form, the patriots will be a scary team next year

The D only played well against the lesser teams, as soon as they played the better teams they were not good. Hard to say to say the offense looks much better either in terms of talent; maybe Harry takes a big years leap, the new TE's work out, Harris steps up to be the lead running back..... but it's a lot of ifs on that side of the ball.
If Cam was capable of reaching MVP level again, I'm not sure the Panthers would have let him go in the first place.

The_Honeybadger

munstermagic11 wrote: »

If Cam was capable of reaching MVP level again, I'm not sure the Panthers would have let him go in the first place.

That’s certainly true, albeit I think they just didn’t trust him to stay healthy and they wanted to move on for that reason. At $1m it’s too good to leave after you from the Pats POV, and for Cam he knows that he has a very good chance of getting in to the starting lineup there at some point and putting himself in the shop window, even if Stidham is the week 1 starter he is bound to have some ups and downs.

The backup QB market is in a really strange place with Winston signing for near league minimum as well, Dalton and Mariota as backups etc. There are some quite serviceable guys available at bargain money. It was unthinkable even a year ago that Newton or Winston would sign that kind of contract.

Christy42

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

That’s certainly true, albeit I think they just didn’t trust him to stay healthy and they wanted to move on for that reason. At $1m it’s too good to leave after you from the Pats POV, and for Cam he knows that he has a very good chance of getting in to the starting lineup there at some point and putting himself in the shop window, even if Stidham is the week 1 starter he is bound to have some ups and downs.

The backup QB market is in a really strange place with Winston signing for near league minimum as well, Dalton and Mariota as backups etc. There are some quite serviceable guys available at bargain money. It was unthinkable even a year ago that Newton or Winston would sign that kind of contract.

I think rookie contracts are starting to change the market. A highly paid qb is such a massive hit to the rest of the team that they have to be brilliant or the team is screwed. Meanwhile you have to compete with teams that have brilliant and cheap QBs like the Chiefs/Ravens.

The_Honeybadger

Christy42 wrote: »

I think rookie contracts are starting to change the market. A highly paid qb is such a massive hit to the rest of the team that they have to be brilliant or the team is screwed. Meanwhile you have to compete with teams that have brilliant and cheap QBs like the Chiefs/Ravens.

Yes and the rookies coming in are better, or at least more pro-ready than in the past as college teams are passing much more, this is supposedly even filtering down to the high school game so QB’s could be much more comfortable coming in to the league in the future.

It probably won’t effect the top of the market where Wilson, Mahomes etc will always command huge money but the middle of the road guys might have to settle for less in the future.

It’ll be interesting to see if teams decide to move on from their expensive veteran QB in favour of a cheaper rookie. You could argue that the Pats have already done it and Green Bay may be moving in that direction.

Foxtrol

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

Yes and the rookies coming in are better, or at least more pro-ready than in the past as college teams are passing much more, this is supposedly even filtering down to the high school game so QB’s could be much more comfortable coming in to the league in the future.

It probably won’t effect the top of the market where Wilson, Mahomes etc will always command huge money but the middle of the road guys might have to settle for less in the future.

It’ll be interesting to see if teams decide to move on from their expensive veteran QB in favour of a cheaper rookie. You could argue that the Pats have already done it and Green Bay may be moving in that direction.

On the rookies point, I think a huge driver for that improved quantity/quality is that finally most college and NFL teams are open to all the talent that is available to them, with the black quarterback becoming a norm as well as mobile QBs (no matter the colour). The outliers in the past gave this generation the drive to play QB in highschool and then choose colleges that would agree to let them stay as QB rather than be converted.

I don't think we've yet seen the middle of the market settling for less yet and I'm not sure it'll go that way. If any of the big names that have signed prove it deals get the chance and play well I don't see them settling for less. I'd be interested to see if an analytics based team tries to cycle through cheap QBs but it is such a gamble for that important of a position and you'll be killed if you let a guy go that succeeds and your cheap option fails

Christy42

Foxtrol wrote: »

On the rookies point, I think a huge driver for that improved quantity/quality is that finally most college and NFL teams are open to all the talent that is available to them, with the black quarterback becoming a norm as well as mobile QBs (no matter the colour). The outliers in the past gave this generation the drive to play QB in highschool and then choose colleges that would agree to let them stay as QB rather than be converted.

I don't think we've yet seen the middle of the market settling for less yet and I'm not sure it'll go that way. If any of the big names that have signed prove it deals get the chance and play well I don't see them settling for less. I'd be interested to see if an analytics based team tries to cycle through cheap QBs but it is such a gamble for that important of a position and you'll be killed if you let a guy go that succeeds and your cheap option fails

I think it is nearly always a gamble. I am not sure a team will cycle through them actively but they might be quicker to go down that road unless they know they have a stud. I have to imagine Mahomes will get paid and that is no bad thing from a team perspective. The issue is when it comes to contracts like Dak or Goff.

Then there is also the job option. Will being a playoff 10-6 team repeatedly keep a coach his job? Or should he risk it on a rookie he believes in and bulk up the rest of the team. Team could get a bowl in a season or two or end up in the 4-12 range and a coach firing. It is an interesting question. It is easy to say pay your stars but who do you fire is a harder one that needs to be answered as well.

I agree that there is a lot more talent being discovered than has been previously.

Foxtrol

On the Cam signing itself, I think it as great move for everyone aside from Stidham, Stidham truthers, and Patriot fans that have crapped on Cam in the past and claimed that Bill would never take in a character like Cam.

Barring Cam not recovering from those injuries, I him quite easily on merit beating Stidham out to start. I don't see the logic of bringing in someone like Cam if you've 100% faith in Stidham to be your starter in 2020. It just ups the pressure on a young QB that we've seen is capable of making mistakes. If for some reason they stick with Stidham for the first few games bringing in Cam now means there'll be so much noise from fans and media to move on if there are teething issues.

I saw some posts about Patriots playing comp picks again but to do that you have to believe they don't plan to make any big signings with all the cap space for 2021, though they could try to do what the Jets did with Bridgewater and try to trade him if a team has QB issues (which would be a sh1t thing to do but they have a history of similar moves)

Foxtrol

Christy42 wrote: »

I think it is nearly always a gamble. I am not sure a team will cycle through them actively but they might be quicker to go down that road unless they know they have a stud. I have to imagine Mahomes will get paid and that is no bad thing from a team perspective. The issue is when it comes to contracts like Dak or Goff.

Then there is also the job option. Will being a playoff 10-6 team repeatedly keep a coach his job? Or should he risk it on a rookie he believes in and bulk up the rest of the team. Team could get a bowl in a season or two or end up in the 4-12 range and a coach firing. It is an interesting question. It is easy to say pay your stars but who do you fire is a harder one that needs to be answered as well.

I agree that there is a lot more talent being discovered than has been previously.

Goff is the case where I thought is was going to happen. As a 9ers fan, I was extremely worried that they were going to let Goff play out his contract and move on to another cheap rookie, given how McVay's scheme seemed to be much more important than Goff.

I was obviously delighted they money at him, alongside all those other questionable contracts.

Foxtrol

Little mention on this thread or the Patriots one about the extremely Patriots timing on the release of the Cam news practically at the same time as the news of the punishment for their illegal taping of the Bengals.

Punishment was pretty much what I thought it was going to be, though the pick was maybe a round earlier.

Oat23

Foxtrol wrote: »

Little mention on this thread or the Patriots one about the extremely Patriots timing on the release of the Cam news practically at the same time as the news of the punishment for their illegal taping of the Bengals.

Punishment was pretty much what I thought it was going to be, though the pick was maybe a round earlier.

Completely missed that news so I guess it worked. Sneaky Pats

Loughc

Lads the worse the number of cases are getting in the states the more worried I am about having a football season this year.

I just can’t see it happening unless the US get a hold on it over the next few months.

Even then if training camps can’t go ahead I’d almost wave goodbye to the starting couple of weekend of games.

Christy42

Foxtrol wrote: »

Little mention on this thread or the Patriots one about the extremely Patriots timing on the release of the Cam news practically at the same time as the news of the punishment for their illegal taping of the Bengals.

Punishment was pretty much what I thought it was going to be, though the pick was maybe a round earlier.

Part of their punishment should be a public laughing at for trying to cheat against the Bengals. They couldn't have lost that if they tried so why not play that one by the book and not get caught.

The_Honeybadger

Foxtrol wrote: »

I don't think we've yet seen the middle of the market settling for less yet and I'm not sure it'll go that way. If any of the big names that have signed prove it deals get the chance and play well I don't see them settling for less. I'd be interested to see if an analytics based team tries to cycle through cheap QBs but it is such a gamble for that important of a position and you'll be killed if you let a guy go that succeeds and your cheap option fails

At the very least teams may have other credible options when negotiating with their QB’s. That wasn’t really the case a few years ago and some guys got way overpaid in free agency.

Unless you are a top 10-15 QB you are replaceable at the moment and with Lawrence and Fields set to come out in 2021 the game of QB musical chairs is likely to continue for another while at least. Of course Brees, Brady, Rivers and Ben will probably all be gone in the next two years freeing up a few spots.

AbusesToilets

Foxtrol wrote: »

Little mention on this thread or the Patriots one about the extremely Patriots timing on the release of the Cam news practically at the same time as the news of the punishment for their illegal taping of the Bengals.

Punishment was pretty much what I thought it was going to be, though the pick was maybe a round earlier.

Once again, an absolute joke. Pats punished for independent contractors unknowingly filming in the wrong spot, for a video documentary. Completely separate to football operations.

Fined and lose a 3rd pick.

For comparison, in 2015 the Giants were caught illegally using microphones to get around the timing cut off for the QBs helmet. Fined and lost a 4th.

Actual in-game cheating gets less of a punishment.

https://yourteamcheats.com/

eagle eye

The treatment the Patriots get is so much worse than everybody else. The Saints are the only team I can remember getting harsh penalties as a team and they were caught red-handed.

Foxtrol

AbusesToilets wrote: »

Once again, an absolute joke. Pats punished for independent contractors unknowingly filming in the wrong spot, for a video documentary. Completely separate to football operations.

Fined and lose a 3rd pick.

The above just isn't accurate, you're either doing your best to twist it into the best possible light or a misinformed.

There was at least one independent contractor there but there were also Patriot/Kraft staff. One guy who was suspended by the Patriots had worked for Kraft for years and had been promoted during that period.

It was nothing to do with the wrong spot, there is no right spot to film what they did where they were the Bengals gave them access to. It also wasn't like they only filmed a second or two, it a camera was consistently on the Bengals side.

We've no idea what would have happened to those tapes if they weren't stopped. We still don't know what was on the original Spygate tapes as Goodell let the Patriots destroy them.

For comparison, in 2015 the Giants were caught illegally using microphones to get around the timing cut off for the QBs helmet. Fined and lost a 4th.

Actual in-game cheating gets less of a punishment.

Not really apples to apples there though is it. Had the Giants been caught doing similar in the past, alongside caught breaking other rules recently under the same HC/GM?

It is like getting annoyed that someone getting convicted for the first time gets a slightly more lenient sentence than a repeat offender.

https://yourteamcheats.com/

That website is a pretty decent source of scandals but the pro-Patriots tin-foil hat slant is ridiculous. They have an award for teams where the writer whines that the scandal got less coverage than the Patriots. I can see where the persecution complex comes from if this is the content you're consuming.

eagle eye

AbusesToilets wrote:

Once again, an absolute joke. Pats punished for independent contractors unknowingly filming in the wrong spot, for a video documentary. Completely separate to football operations.

Thing is there's no use giving out about, there's a lot of people out there who hate winners so the Patriots are high on their hitlists. They'll say the Patriots deserve every punishment they get and when you give out about it they'll say you are precious or something else.
They don't see what we see which is the Patriots getting to punished for things that every team was at like spygate which many head coaches admitted. And then deflategate where good science proved that the balls were not tampered with, and that's not even going into the stark improvement in performance in the second half of that game when the balls were pumped up.
So we just have to grin and bear it and then smile when it doesn't stop us win yet another Superbowl.