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

It's frightening when you realise that it's nine years since Hazy's set up the first one of these threads.

helimachoptor wrote: »

AFC south is generally all over the place, but if things go right, you could see 3 teams from the division in the play offs

Possible but that would be more about the poor quality of the AFC than anything else.

And so it begins:

https://twitter.com/adamschefter/status/1022943912535707653?s=21

helimachoptor wrote: »

Titans have been really lucky the last few years, but the Chargers are proper cursed by the looks of it

Maybe someone in San Diego cursed the team. They had some really bad luck in the early games last season. A field goal here and there and it would have been a different story.

I see that Matt Patricia's attempt to bring the 'Patriot Way' to Detroit is already going down the plug-hole -

https://eu.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2018/06/08/detroit-lions-matt-patricia/684073002/

Anyone know if the hall of fame game is on tv thursday night?

After the signing of Sam Darnold, Roquan Smith of the Bears is now the only first round pick who has not signed a contract.

His agency is the same that negotiated for Joey Bosa last year.

It's a little unclear what the hold up is, but Bears HC Matt Nagy suggested it was to do with the new helmet contact rules. Because the NFL have been unable to explain clearly how it will work, Smith as an LB is worried that he could incur a suspension just because of the messy arbitrary way it might get applied (will get applied, going on all recent experience with the NFL), and under current contract rules that might entitle the Bears to wipe some of his guarantees, even though they have never done that before, like with Trevathan last year.

BUT, there's been suggestions that it's a bigger problem. The contracts teams have been giving out include language that allows them to void guarantees purely based on a player saying or doing something that they perceive to be damaging to the club and its reputation (at their sole discretion, as the language of the contract has it). The NFLPA has warned agents that this language has become more vague and all-encompassing gradually with the passing years. So Smith's people are challenging it. It's worth noting that several players like Trumaine Edmunds and Todd Gurley have had this language waived from their contracts, so there is a precedent there.

Either way the whole thing makes the Bears look very bad, in my opinion. They are holding out on a very badly needed top ten pick and stalling his development, basically over pocket change to them (but not pocket change to him). Hypothetical pocket change at that. Or they are making a stand to protect ludicrous levels of team control over their players. If they weren't such a crappy team you might think they can stand on principle but they need all the help they can get, and Smith needs all the training and preseason he can get. Amateur hour from the Bears again, in other words, and it will leave Smith bitter and disaffected from this team when it comes time to negotiate again in a few years (if they even get him signed this time).

From a wider league point of view, it sounds like they are making this stand so that teams can enforce their Trump hole-licking new rules about player protests. But that's just my opinion. Either way it's a mess, but probably great news for the Packers going into Week 1.

thomond2006 wrote: »

Jaysus Bears, sign him up. If he produces then you'll be paying him a pittance of what he's actually worth for four years on the rookie contract. The HOF game is on Thursday and surely a rookie like Smith would be used significantly during pre-season to get him up to speed.

Yeah he needs to be getting all the practices he can get so he's ready to go week 1. This is a top ten pick we're talking about, on a team that has lost 30 games since this GM came on board. I have a bad feeling this is a sign that nothing much has changed really at the Bears, penny wise pound foolish as always.