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

Are the Browns not in a terrible position now. They have given Watson a huge upper hand for someone who a few weeks ago had no bargaining position. With Mayfield disenfranchised, they have to get a deal done with Watson or else the team could fall a part. Bad negotiating by them IMO.

The browns have made a mess of the whole QB situation. They aren’t the favourites to land watson and by doing so publicly, they’ve made their franchise QB release a statement that despite what he says at the start means he’s pissed off and if as is very likely that Watson doesn’t go to Cleveland, do they think baker is just going to forget what has happened ? I will say that baker didn’t help himself by releasing a statement because yes he’s entitled to feel pissed off and could’ve said what he said in public but in private. It didn’t help is my point and it felt premature.

Also, why are the niners making moves to possibly keep jimmy G ? Surely it’s Trey Lance’s team now and jimmy G can move on and leave the stage open so to speak. I’d be pissed off if I was a niners fan if after nearly a year the QB they drafted in Lance isn’t ready to start.

Hard to pinpoint what has been impacting the Jimmy deal given how tight the team are with leaks but little to nothing points to it being due to Lance not being ready for next season. If they weren't happy with him they wouldn't have been showing Jimmy the door in all discussions post season, they'd leave a tangible out that he'd be in discussions to be the starter (not just potentially be on the roster for leverage). They had to make moves to get under the cap number yesterday otherwise they would needed to cut him and then would at least initially get less cap savings and no draft capital. Much more likely reasons to be causing the delay would be:

• The QBs not retiring (Brady, Rodgers), coming available (Watson), and moving from teams that are unlikely trade partners (Wilson) cooled Jimmy's market
• Jimmy is one or multiple teams' back-up option so nothing will happen until the Watson decision
• 49ers are looking for too much for him and are refusing to budge and would rather hold on to him right up until contract become guaranteed in case there is a QB injury during the offseason
• Jimmy's late decision to get shoulder surgery has scared teams off or they want to wait until his shoulder is showing more progress in healing before trading
• 49ers have repeatedly said they wanted to 'do right by Jimmy' and may have refused to trade him to Washington - the team with probably the worst reputation in their building. Only two teams have traded for QBs at this stage
• Teams just don't like Jimmy as an option

One or more of those make much more sense to be delaying a deal than it being due to Lance. Like practically all 49ers fans, I want them to get some additional draft capital but balancing that feeling with loving them to get it done sooner rather than later so we use some of that ~$25m to make a few more FA moves to bolster the roster. Having gotten our corner I am not too upset with missing out on some of those big splashy signings, it is more the next week or so when you can get some low end starters/rotational pieces

Lol this is a bit of a mess

Sounds like they are out of the running for Watson. Likely why they have refused the trade request so they are in trouble now.

Baker went with his message quickly but everyone was on about OBJ being the problem in Cleveland and a head case. He went on to be a key player in the Rams SB win.

The common theme is the Browns. They hit upon something decent for a bit seem to be returning to type.

Just put all the AFC West games on prime time 😂

That division is going to be a brilliant bloodbath, 4 teams stacked who cannot fail, can't wait to see these games

Disagree - no way serious interest in Watson is staying quiet right now, even if the Browns didn't leak it is incredibly likely Texans or Watson's camp would let it slip out (or some reporter or fan watch where the team/owner's private jet was going and connect the dots).

I completely understand where Baker is coming from but he hasn't earned the right for the Browns to not be looking for a potential upgrade on him. His reaction only reemphasizes the immaturity he has shown previously and probably vindicated the Browns' original decision to check out other options. He could have proved them wrong in his reaction but he just told them they were right.

Huge new guaranteed deal for him too. Browns always seemed to be an organization that was desperate enough to win to climb into the gutter and they just proved it with this trade and giving Watson more money.

From a sporting perspective, glad he ended up in the AFC and not to one of the NFC teams - which just keeps adding on more quality.

The Browns have been promoting their image as ‘inclusive’ and promoters of civil rights and women’s rights - then they go and throw hundreds of millions at someone who has all the hallmarks of a sexual predator.

I feel sorry for Browns fans that their team is run by such a dysfunctional organisation.

Yeah I threw on NFL network for a half hour last night to hear the reaction, not one mention of the allegations.

I suspect this will follow like the Big Ben allegations or Ray Lewis double murder plea deal, it’ll get plenty of airtime on Twitter, and not one mention on TV if Watson is winning Super Bowl MVP in two years time